Nadesico: Oysters and Pearls
by Davner
Summary: The war is over and the Nadesico, under the command of Capt. Jun Aoi, turns to more peaceful endeavours. Chapter 9 is up. With Jun still in a coma, the crew has to deal with Tsukuomi's brand of leadership.
1. Default Chapter

It was cool that day. Disclaimer: Nadesico's not mine.  
  
Nadesico: Oysters and Pearls  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Sail On Sailor  
  
With no trees or other buildings in the immediate area, there was nothing to stop the wind from blowing across the runway but a single, rusty outdated hangar housing gear and parts of aircraft that hadn't seen the sky in two hundred years.  
  
As the cool wind blew steadily, it carried upon it the sounds emanating from that hangar; wrenches turning, light hammer taps, and the occasional sound of a tool hitting concrete and the muttered curse that went with it.  
  
Sitting in the middle of an ocean of concrete, Jun Aoi heard his father's triumphant cry. "It's finished!"  
  
Looking up from the lone ant that had been making its way slowly across the tarmac, the seven year old boy looked up and smiled as his father's obsession rolled out of the hangar, pushed by the man he idolized and a group of his friends.  
  
"Obsession" was the name his mother had suggested for it, but Jun's father had laughed and said he had something better for his two year old hobby. Two blades stuck out perpendicular to the nose of the vehicle while long wings spread out from either side in a straight, almost unnaturally rigid lines. Despite that, it looked almost organic resting on three wheels, its nose pointed at the sky. Along the side, his father had painted the name he had chosen for it.  
  
"Spirit of Hiroshima."  
  
His father hopped into the cockpit and donned a replica of an old leather flight cap and goggles. His father's friend, Masao, chuckled as he handed him a cooler.  
  
"You're crazy, you know," Masao pointed out.  
  
"Crazy!? Ha!" his father replied pointedly. "A plane just like this one flew across the Atlantic! And that was back in the early twentieth century! The Sea of Japan will be nothing!"  
  
Masao shook his head. "You're a crazy son of a bitch, Jubei."  
  
"The crazy ones are the pearls, Masao," Jubei pointed out. "It's boring old codgers like you that remain oysters all their lives." He continued with the preflight.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Masao said.  
  
"Oi! Jun!"  
  
Like a shot, the seven-year-old was at the plane, looking up at his father. The man pulled two yellow flags out of the cockpit and tossed them down at him.  
  
"Now listen, Jun," he said quietly, almost like the two were sharing a conspiracy. "You have the most important job in the world right now. I want you to take these flags down to the very end of the runway and hold them over your head. If you see any smoke coming out of the plane while I'm taking off, wave them. Understand?"  
  
Jun nodded, wide-eyed.  
  
The airplane started with a roar that made the boy jump.  
  
"Off you go!" Jubei ordered. Jun picked up the flags and ran as fast as he could to the end of the runway. He was panting and out of breath by the time he had run the quarter mile to the end of the provincial Okayama airstrip. He raised the two yellow flags over his head and watched as the Spirit of Hiroshima taxied to the other end of the runway.  
  
He was grinning broadly as the engines revved up all the way and the small plane shot toward him. He was so giddy, he almost forgot to watch for smoke like his father told him.  
  
The plane got bigger and bigger in the young boy's vision, but still no smoke. Suddenly, without warning, the plane began its ascent into the sky and shot over Jun's head. The wind nearly knocked him over, but he still managed to drop the flags and run after the plane, laughing.  
  
The plane was out of sight before he ran out of breath, and he knew his father had just realized his dream.  
  
***  
  
20 years later.  
  
Two forces of interior decorating were at war in this room, the result of a poorly planned but long expected invasion, an invasion that was still "fifty miles from Baghdad," as the old Army saying went, bitterly fought but close to conclusion. Boxes lined two of the walls. Models and awards warred with knick-knacks and dolls. Black and white photos of a boy, his father and an ancient-looking airplane shared an uneasy truce on the dresser with color holos of an older couple with a small girl between them.  
  
On the walls, a bitter battle was being waged. On one side, framed photos and newspapers were being contested by signed anime posters.  
  
The framed newspaper was emblazoned with the headline: "PEACE!" and a photo of several people on the bridge of a battleship, some in UE uniforms, some in Jovian garb, shaking hands. The drop head read, "Jovians, UE sign armistice aboard HMB Nadesico."  
  
The posters that encroached on its territory were not the posters of a rabid otaku, but memoirs from a forgotten career. At the forefront of the assault was a poster of a cute magical girl holding a staff. The handwriting under it, scrawled in pen, read "For love, justice and peace! Megumi."  
  
This war, like the one recently won, would end soon, and like the last war probably without a clear victor but a compromise. After all, the owners of the two were determined to live with each other for a long time. The awards, photos, knick-knacks, dolls, posters and newspapers would just have to learn to live with it.  
  
In the meantime, the war raged on silently as the most early morning light began to peek through the window.  
  
Silently except for the door chime.  
  
Receiving no answer from the first, the caller chimed again.  
  
This time, there was a response. A dark-haired man rolled over in bed and put his arm around a purple-haired woman.  
  
A third chime.  
  
This time the woman responded, groaning and lifting her head from the pillow. "Jun chan," she said with a yawn. "Someone's at the door."  
  
"What time is it?" he asked through the pillow, muffling his speech into "Wum tum iz um?"  
  
A fourth chime.  
  
The woman blinked sleep from her eyes and looked at the clock. "Seven," she replied with another yawn.  
  
Jun groaned and rolled over. "It's SATURDAY," he growled.  
  
"It's probably the Space Scouts selling cookies," the woman said sleepily, dropping back down to the pillow he was abandoning. "Get a box of caramel for me."  
  
He eyed her with amusement as he put on his slippers. Reaching over, he found her tickle spot and moved his fingers across her lacy purple shift.  
  
The result was dramatic.  
  
"AAUGH!" she cried, hopping up to a sitting position in a second. "JUN!"  
  
A fifth chime.  
  
"Awfully pushy for Space Scouts," Jun noted, rising to his feet. He started for the door.  
  
"You're in trouble when you get back, Jun Aoi!" the woman cried, sticking her tongue out at him.  
  
A sixth chime.  
  
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Jun called out, putting a robe on. He reached the front door of the house and opened it, genuinely shocked at what he found there.  
  
Two men in uniform stood there, but they weren't the cut of the UE. Rather, they were a familiar white uniform that officers on board Nergal vessels were known for wearing.  
  
Jun felt a stir of anxiety well up in him. Whatever this was, it had little if nothing to do with cookies.  
  
"Captain Aoi?" one of the officers asked. He nodded. "Sir, we're here from Ms. Wong's office."  
  
Jun said nothing, and the officer didn't immediately elaborate, somehow assuming that Jun would catch the drift. When it was obvious he wasn't, he went on.  
  
"Sir.we're here to inform you that you've been reactivated."  
  
He said nothing, looking back and forth between the two of them for a moment. "And she sent TWO of you?" he asked skeptically.  
  
"Actually, she sent me," the officer said.  
  
The other one spoke up for the first time. "I'm here to present the same notice to your wife, Sir."  
  
The corners of Jun's mouth quirked up. "Good luck."  
  
The officer seemed to understand what he meant. Jun sympathized. His wife was very anti-war despite her service in the last war. She hadn't been thrilled to find that her contract had included a clause where she was listed in the inactive reserves.  
  
The first officer handed Jun a folder. "There are details and travel arrangements inside. You're to report to Ms. Wong's office in Tokyo as soon as possible."  
  
Jun nodded absently and stepped back. "You guys want some coffee or something?"  
  
"Well," the second officer began.  
  
"Trust me, you'll need the bracer," Jun told him.  
  
They nodded and came inside.  
  
"I'll go get her," Jun told them, making his way back to the bedroom. "Just make yourselves at home."  
  
When he entered the room, his wife already asleep again. He sat on the edge of the bed and sighed, wanting to give her just one more minute of peace before he did this to her. Finally, he reached down and shook her ankle.  
  
"Hey," he whispered.  
  
The woman opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Did you get my cookies?"  
  
He actually cracked a smile at that before his expression became more sober. "Get dressed, Megumi chan," he said. "We've got company."  
  
***  
  
Havana, Cuba.  
  
Salsa music was playing from some nearby tavern jukebox that gave an aquamarine-haired woman an odd soundtrack as she marched angrily down the wharf road. Behind her, she dragged a burlap sack, its contents bulky but otherwise unknown, though the way the locals moved out of her way as she stormed down the pier, it was obvious that there were those who wouldn't be at all surprised to find a body in there.  
  
She stopped before a large hacienda and tossed the sack down in front of her. The contents made a muffled "Oomph!" as it hit the pier. The woman put her hands on her hips and glared angrily through the cast iron gate up at the second floor balcony. The look of absolute fury looked out of place on a woman in a short blue skirt and halter top, but somehow Ryoko Subaru made it work.  
  
"DIAZ!" she screamed up at the balcony. "GET YOUR LOUSY, SABOTAGING ASS OUT HERE!"  
  
The balcony doors opened and a squat Cuban man in a colorful shirt emerged, complete with stereotypical cigar hanging from the right side of his mouth.  
  
"What?!" he asked, playing into the role of the hapless victim. "Ryoko! Senorita! What you doing causing such noise, eh?"  
  
Ryoko kicked the sack, which replied with another grunt. "I found one of your scumbag toadies putting sugar in the ship's plasma tank again!" she accused him.  
  
"Ryoko, Ryoko, Ryoko!" he said, beseeching her. "Why do you assume it's me, eh? Why you assume I'm the ONLY other freight craft owner out there who wants your business to fail, eh? Why does it always come down to me, eh?"  
  
Ryoko knelt down and opened the sack. Reaching in, she pulled out a young boy no older than thirteen, holding by the scruff of the neck.  
  
"Because you sent your own fucking nephew, el stupid ass!"  
  
Diaz stared and blink. Finally, he decided to just shift gears. Taking the stogie out of his mouth, he pointed it at her. "Listen here, Senorita! You think you can just come in here and start making money off MY action!? You think just because you some kind of big war hero, you can take food off MY fucking table!?"  
  
"Yeah, you look like you're in REAL danger of starving to death, you fucking fat ass!" Ryoko shot back.  
  
"Hey! We don't want no slope bitch telling us how to do things! NO ONE fucks with Diaz!"  
  
Ryoko was silent for a moment. "What the fuck did you just call me?" she asked quietly.  
  
Diaz took another drag before responding. "I said 'SLOPE!' Slant-eyed, slope-headed, fish-eating, Pearl Harbor bombing BITCH!"  
  
Diaz's nephew looked up at Ryoko fearfully as she stood there and nodded. "I see," she said. With a scream, she pushed the boy back in the sack, swung it around and launched it over the fence!  
  
The freight owner cried out just as the sacked boy hit him, knocking him through the balcony door.  
  
"YOU KEEP YOUR FUCKING STOOGES AWAY FROM MY SHIPS, EL FAGGOT!" she screamed before turning on her heel and storming away.  
  
The salsa music continued to play.  
  
Ryoko must have walked a quarter mile down the pier before she started to actually cool down. When she finally did, she rested against the guard rail and looked out at the Caribbean.  
  
Sighing, she checked her note book and crossed off the line that read, "Fuck up Diaz." Then she checked her watch and nodded in satisfaction. That had been her only real chore of the day and it was only 1:25 in the afternoon.  
  
Time for a siesta.  
  
It was only a short walk to a nearby pier-side restaurant and bar where they served good conch salad. Ordering one for herself and a beer, she pushed Diaz out of her mind and went back to enjoying why she liked basing her company out of Havana. Warm sun, blue ocean, and with the exception of punks like Diaz, friendly people.  
  
She started into her conch salad but paused mid-bite when she heard someone clear their throat. Looking up, she found a uniformed man standing at her table.  
  
"Colonel Subaru?"  
  
Ryoko replied the way she knew she would if ever called back to duty.  
  
"Ryoko no es aqui!"  
  
***  
  
Io.  
  
Colonel Makoto Rikari's cell was probably the most comfortable, well- decorated room in the Io Maximum Security Military Prison. Around the tiny cot was a whole fleet of bouquets of flowers from all over the Jovian moons.  
  
For the hundredth time that day, Makoto cursed fate. After four years of war and what was arguably the most brilliant career in Jovian military history, the secret had gotten out due to nothing more than an accident.  
  
A plasma injector in the hangar next to Makoto's Gekigangar had exploded and the colonel, a two-year squadron commander and winner of the Jovian Legion of Worth, had been caught in the blast.  
  
Drifting in and out of consciousness, Makoto was only aware of the med- techs kneeling down, the sound of tearing fabric, and startled gasps.  
  
The secret was out.  
  
The med-techs, tearing the flight suit off their patient to treat the burns had discovered it, and like good Jovians, had reported it.  
  
Colonel Makoto Rikari, hero of the fleet, was a woman.  
  
She cursed herself again. Even now that she had been caught, even now that her status was that of a criminal and not a hero, they still treated her like a dainty female unable to take care of herself.  
  
Running her hands through her short, cropped red hair, she stared at a bouquet of blue Callistan roses sitting across from her and wondered if the stems were dry enough to rub together and start a fire.  
  
Before any further thought of escape could cross her mind, the cell door opened, and in stepped a familiar face.  
  
Her secret may have been out, but until a board of inquiry said otherwise, she was still a colonel in the Jovian Superior Male Forces. She snapped to attention in a heartbeat.  
  
"Good morning, General," she greeted.  
  
"Stand at ease, Colonel," the general, a gray-haired man who stood a foot over her, told her.  
  
She eased her stance, but didn't sit.  
  
The general didn't look at her. Instead, he brushed a finger against the blue roses. "They're treating you well?" he asked. "You're comfortable?"  
  
Makoto didn't want to hear it. "What's going to happen to me, Sir?" she asked.  
  
"Well, that is the question of the day, isn't it?" he asked. He shook his head. "You understand this complicates things," he told her.  
  
"Sir, I'd like to explain why.."  
  
He held a hand up, stopping her in mid-sentence. "I know what you're going to say. Even Nanako felt the desire to fight in Episode 23."  
  
"It's not just about that," she blurted out. "What difference should my sex make?!" she demanded.  
  
"It makes all the difference," he countered. "Women are supposed to be taken care of, protected. If the people were to ever learn that we sent a woman to the front lines in our war with the Earthers.." He shook his head. "Our entire society would be called into question!"  
  
She grabbed a nearby bouquet and squeezed it so hard, the stems cracked. "This has nothing to do with 'protecting' women!" she bit out. "You and your generals just can't stand the thought that a meek, dainty female could fight better than ninety percent of the fleet!" She punctuated this by throwing the flowers in his face. "I'm a woman!" she cried. "Not some delicate porcelain doll you have to keep on a pedestal! Did it ever to occur to any of you that these are OUR worlds too!? That maybe WE'D like to share in the sacrifice!? Contribute!?"  
  
"Women DO contribute," the general argued softly.  
  
"Oh, sure, by sewing uniforms for their men and taking care of the children back home! Forget about the wasted potential!"  
  
"One of the justifications for the war was the way Earthers treat women," he growled. "How are we supposed to argue against that with a WOMAN at the had of one of our Gekigangar squadrons?!"  
  
"So what now?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest. "Take me to trial, and I go to trial as a woman. You'd be stupid to assume I'd continue to hide my gender now. It gets out anyway. Unless you kill me."  
  
"We're not going to kill you," he assured.  
  
"Then what?" she asked. "Hold me in this cell until I day of old age? Your options are running thin."  
  
"No," he said with a shake of his head. "We're going to transfer you."  
  
Makoto was silent for a moment. "Pardon?"  
  
The general produced a data pad from his jacket pocket and handed it to her. "Reassignment. A Gekigangar squadron on a special mission."  
  
Makoto couldn't believe her ears. She checked the pad over. Sure enough it was a reassignment order with her name on it for a squadron commander slot. She looked at him and her eyes narrowed.  
  
"What's the deal?" she asked warily. "You're up to something."  
  
He shrugged. "We can't sweep it under the rug. We can't try you. So we're going to hide you."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
He sat down. "The Earthers have come to us with a rather ambitious proposal. In the interests of peace, they have proposed a joint exploration mission to another part of the galaxy. One of their ships and captains, half the crew and some of their Aestivalis'. One of our officers will be the executive officer. Chief engineer and most of the support staff. We've also promised a Gekigangar squadron."  
  
Her expression could have melted iron. "You're going to exile me," she whispered.  
  
"It is the only option where both you and we can maintain honor."  
  
She looked down at the ground. "When do I leave?"  
  
***  
  
Tokyo, Japan.  
  
Jun sighed quietly as Megumi played with his hair. He could never understand her fascination with it. All he knew was that every time his head got within range, her fingers would somehow find his hair.  
  
Lightning flashed briefly outside, illuminating the hotel room for a moment. He was lying on the king-sized bed, his head in his wife's lap, just thinking.  
  
They hadn't seen Erina Wong since the armistice, but he could tell that Megumi still didn't like the woman. She never really had, and never really trusted her.  
  
Which was fine by Jun. He never really liked her either.  
  
But this opportunity she was offering..  
  
Originally, he thought she wanted him to go looking for pirates or renegades. He never would have thought in a hundred years that she would have made the kind of offers she had.  
  
A chance to command the first extra-solar system exploration mission.  
  
A chance to command Nadesico again.  
  
Presented the way Erina had, there was little reason to turn it down. It was the kind of mission Jun dreamed of. A chance to travel among the stars instead of battling among them. As a matter of fact, there was only one factor in the world right now that would keep him from taking her offer.  
  
***  
  
Megumi Reinard Aoi slowly ran her fingers through her new husband's hair and sighed inwardly. She knew what it was he wanted. She saw it in his eyes after Erina made her pitch. Because of the nature of the mission, she couldn't force them to go. Reactivating their commissions was just a way to get them to listen. If they didn't want to go, they wouldn't go. The end.  
  
But she had made the offer, and she could see how much Jun wanted to go.  
  
She didn't trust Erina. The woman only did things when they benefited Nergal and herself. She didn't buy into this idea that it was Nergal's way of promoting good will between the UE and the Jovian Union.  
  
She was up to something.  
  
"You want to go, don't you?" she whispered.  
  
"Do you?" he asked.  
  
"That wasn't the question."  
  
He was quiet for a minute. "Yeah, I wanna do it."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, not immediately understanding her question.  
  
She sighed. "I thought it was supposed to be over. We were done, remember? The Nadesico, Nergal, the war, all of it."  
  
"This isn't quite the same, Megumi chan," he replied quietly. "We're not talking about a war with humans or even aliens. This is a chance to see things no one else has ever seen."  
  
"Then why send a warship?" she asked. "Why send Nadesico?"  
  
"Because we have no idea what we'll find," he explained. "I can see the logic of it. It's called 'gunboat diplomacy.' We come in peace but show them we're prepared to defend ourselves."  
  
She didn't say anything. "But why do YOU want to go?"  
  
He was quiet for several moments. She merely waited and continued to play with his hair with her fingers.  
  
"It's a chance to be a pearl, I guess," he whispered finally.  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"My father used to say that there were two kinds of people in the world; oysters and pearls." Megumi listened as he went on. "Oysters are like your average Joe. Guys who don't really want to do anything with their lives beyond getting an okay job and a duplex, who didn't WANT to do things spectacular. Kinda like Akito was when we first met him."  
  
Megumi nodded.  
  
"Pearls are the kind of people who take the lead, do things that no one else will do. He was like that, you know. People used to call him crazy for doing stuff like flying across the Sea of Japan in an old airplane or climbing Mt. Hood. Things like that."  
  
"You're already a pearl, Jun chan," Megumi told him.  
  
He shook his head. "Not really. Remember when they signed the armistice on the Nadesico?"  
  
"That's exactly what I mean," she argued. "You commanded the ship that ended the war. You should be proud of that."  
  
"And I am, but it wasn't really mine," he told her quietly. "I inherited it from Yurika. If she hadn't disappeared, it would've been her standing on the bridge, overseeing the signing. I was just her stand-in."  
  
"Jun chan."  
  
"This time, though," he said. "This is something that could be mine. My contribution to Earth. They came to ME, Megumi chan. Me AND you."  
  
"You really want to do this?"  
  
"Yeah," he said. "I really do."  
  
She continued to play with his hair, silent for several minutes.  
  
"Okay," she said.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
She nodded and caressed his face. "Let's do it."  
  
"You're sure?" he asked.  
  
She looked down and gave him a smile. "Jun chan, I promised to stand by you. That doesn't mean I get to hijack your dreams. It's only for a year, and if you're really passionate about this, then I want to help you do it."  
  
He reached up and took her hand in his, not saying anything.  
  
He didn't have to. She leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Come on. Let's call Erina before I come to my senses."  
  
***  
  
Trinity Orbital Spaceyards, Earth Orbit.  
  
The first thing Jun thought when he saw the Nadesico again, the first time in two years, was "Where did all that crap come from?"  
  
He must have said it out loud, because Erina Wong, Nergal's CEO, looked up from the controls of the shuttle to answer him. "That crap is about thirty trillion yen of the best sensor and scientific arrays Nergal could develop over the past six years." She paused to make a course correction, and the shuttle began a slow circle around the warship.  
  
Jun looked out the window and could now see the "crap" clearly. Sensor dishes and antennae of ever size shape and configuration festooned the ship, including a long, stinger-looking antennae that jutted out the stern of the ship, giving Nadesico a wasp-like appearance.  
  
"Thirty trillion yen, huh?" he asked. "Does it work?"  
  
Erina pursed her lips. She was piloting them up to the ship as a way of showing them how important she considered this mission, not so that they could score points off her. "Yes," she bit out. "It works quite well."  
  
"We've been testing equipment like this on several planets in the inner solar system, Inez Franssenge piped up from the back of the shuttle. "Every bit of data collectable by man can be scooped up by the Nadesico. She truly is a vessel of science now."  
  
Jun smiled. He hadn't heard Inez would be traveling with them, let alone the centerpiece of the whole mission, but he was glad she was along. He hadn't encountered any situation in the past five years that COULDN'T be explained away by Inez, and explained away in a tone that made you feel really stupid for asking to begin with to boot.  
  
Still, there was something off about her, something that he couldn't wait to get Megumi alone to ask about. She had been quiet, reserved, almost reluctant to give out information. She looked tired. He wanted to see if Megumi noticed it too.  
  
"You should see the other modifications!" the shuttles other passenger broke in. Aurora Dayne was a mousy, bespectacled woman who looked about two years out of grad school. She wore her blonde hair up in a style that seemed to contrast with her exuberance, kind of like the way one might feel if they saw a librarian playing air guitar. Erina had introduced her as Inez's student.  
  
She now turned her attention to Megumi. "You should see the leaps and bounds we've made with the communications array, Ma'am!" she squeaked. "We've done miracles with psycho-linguistic technology during the early war years, when we were trying to communicate with what we thought were non- human, Jovian lizards and not actual human beings. It's only now that we're just starting to get the kinks out! And the long-range communications system is the absolute best Nergal and UE coul..."  
  
"That'll due, Aurora," Inez told her with a slight smile. "No need to overwhelm them just yet."  
  
Aurora blushed a bit and nodded, turning quiet.  
  
Jun turned back to the window and idly addressed Erina. "So who else did you manage to con into this idea?"  
  
Erina actually smiled at the dig. "You'd be surprised."  
  
***  
  
Nadesico bridge.  
  
The woman sitting at the ops console must have grown six inches since the last time they saw her.  
  
"Ruri chan!"  
  
Ruri Hoshino turned and actually smiled at them. "Miss Megumi, Miss Wong, Dr. Franssenge, Kanchou, lady I've never met before.."  
  
Simple greetings weren't enough for Megumi. She rushed up and hugged the young girl, young WOMAN, Megumi had to remind herself. Ruri was thirteen years old now, and rather than grow bitter in her "old age," she had actually lightened up a bit, allowing a smile to play across her lips more often and more naturally than she would have five years ago. Part of that, of course, was time spent on the Nadesico with the likes of Megumi and Minato, naturally free spirits who played the role of big sisters for her. She had given up on the uniform she wore when she was younger and now wore something akin to Yurika's old uniform, something she could call "more adult."  
  
"I thought you were planning on going to school?" Megumi asked in confusion.  
  
Ruri looked up at her and answered matter-of-factly. "School is for bakas."  
  
Jun, meanwhile, was looking over the bridge. Aside from a few additional consoles, it was the same battleship he had commanded and relinquished two years ago. He walked up to the command deck and looked out across the ship's command section. If he closed his eyes, he could almost see Minato painting her nails at the helm, eight-year-old Ruri playing video games with Omoikane, and hear Yurika squealing at the sight of Akito on the viewscreen.  
  
But that was a long time ago.  
  
And that man at the helm didn't seem the type to paint his fingernails.  
  
Erina, seeing that his interest had turned to the sandy-haired man, gestured to him. Captain Jun Aoi, Chief Warrant Officer Chase Warren, ship's helmsman."  
  
"How do you do?" Jun asked with an arched eyebrow. The man wore the standard beige uniform with orange jacket, but looked like he'd be more comfortable in flip-flops and a Hawaiian shirt. Shoring up this belief was the guitar propped against the side of the helm.  
  
"Just fine, Sir," Chase replied, his speech tinged with an American accent.  
  
"Where were you before this?" Jun asked.  
  
Chase smiled. "Helmsman for the Dauntless," he said. "But when I heard there was a spot on the Nadesico, I jumped."  
  
"Heard about the girls onboard, huh?" Jun asked deadpan.  
  
Chase just smiled.  
  
"Forget it." He turned to Megumi and tried to hide his grin. "How do things look?"  
  
Megumi was sitting at the communications console now. "I'll let you know as soon as I remember how to boot this thing up."  
  
"You'll be able to leave as soon as the supply ships are finished offloading and the final checks are made," Erina told him. "In the meantime, would you care to join Inez, Aurora and I for dinner? We have a few things we should probably discuss."  
  
"Of course," Jun told her. "Megumi and I would be glad to."  
  
Megumi tried to hide a grimace, but didn't put much effort into it.  
  
"Excellent!" Erina replied, throwing a glance to Megumi that spoke volumes.  
  
***  
  
Nadesico Hangar Bay.  
  
No sooner had the shuttle come to rest on the flight deck did the starboard side hatch open and an orange duffel bag was tossed to the deck. Ryoko poked her head out after it and took off her mirrored sunglasses, hooking them in the top of her uniform shirt. She stepped down and took a look around.  
  
The Aestavalis' ringing the hangar in their own individual cages looked a little different than the ones she, Izumi and Hikaru had piloted during the war, but not so different that they questioned Ryoko's ability to fly them. What bothered her was the state of disrepair several of them seemed to be in.  
  
Kneeling down, she picked up her duffel bag and tossed it over her shoulder before heading toward the exit. As she passed a technician, she gave a quick, dissatisfied grunt as the man stood straighter and saluted her.  
  
"Colonel Subaru, I.."  
  
"Don't salute me," she said curtly, not even bothering to stop.  
  
She hated that. Moreso than anything that mildly annoyed her in the past. Ever since the armistice when some damn fool reporter interviewed her and labeled her a "hero of the Earth," people had insisted on saluting her and calling her "Ma'am." It was more formality than she liked in her life. That's why she worked out of Havana. Diaz and his crew might be punks, but at least they called her by her name the way she liked.  
  
So caught up in her annoyance was she, that she didn't even notice the woman who stood near the door she was about to use as her exit. She stopped dead in her tracks and stared.  
  
The dark-haired woman stared back. For a good three minutes, the only sound that could be heard on the flight deck were the sounds of tools and frustrated mechanics.  
  
The two continued to stare.  
  
Finally, Ryoko spoke.  
  
"Lieutenant Colonel Maki," she said quietly in greeting.  
  
"Colonel Subaru," Izumi replied.  
  
More silence.  
  
"So you're a squadron commander, huh?" Ryoko asked.  
  
Izumi nodded. "45th Space Combat Squadron. I'll be reporting to you."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Fine. See you at the meeting," Ryoko declared, walking through the door past the brunette.  
  
Izumi didn't turn her head to watch her go. Instead, she lit a cigarette. "Yes, Ma'am."  
  
***  
  
When Erina Wong went out to impress you, you were guaranteed not to miss it. This was a fact Jun and Megumi were just coming to grips with as dinner was served in the Nadesico's officer's lounge. A well-dressed Nergal waiter had just finished filling Erina's glass with wine while two others placed boiled lobsters in front of them. The two sat at the opposite end of a long mahogany table from the Nergal CEO. Sitting in chairs between them were Inez and Aurora. A third place setting was set out, but the intended diner had not shown up yet.  
  
Erina took a sip and set her glass down. "Now we come to the crux of the matter," she announced.  
  
"I must admit to having several questions," Jun told her, picking at the lobster staring back at him accusingly from his plate.  
  
Erina smiled and sat back. "Please," she urged. "Ask away. I'll be as forthright as I can."  
  
"There's a switch," Megumi muttered. Erina frowned. Aurora looked uncomfortable. Inez smiled.  
  
"At last record," Jun began, ignoring his wife's jab, "There were about fifty-six TRILLION star systems in the galaxy. Yet by the time you came to us, you had already picked out a destination. Now I've done some research.."  
  
Erina raised an eyebrow.  
  
"And from what I've heard from quite a few astronomers is that there are systems much closer and much more likely to support life than Epsilon Eridani."  
  
The Nergal businesswoman smiled uncomfortably. "I'm afraid I don't really understand..."  
  
"We want to know why, in Nergal's infinite wisdom, you chose THIS system," Megumi put in.  
  
Aurora gave a stifled cry and held her breath.  
  
Erina stared at Megumi and Megumi stared right back.  
  
From her seat, Aurora started to sweat.  
  
"They'll find out eventually," Inez said casually.  
  
Inez's assistant was starting to turn blue.  
  
Erina arched an eyebrow and, not turning her stare away from Megumi, said "Tell 'em."  
  
Aurora let loose the answer like a pack of wild dogs she had been trying to hold on a dozen leashes. "Because we KNOW there's life in Epsilon Eridani!"  
  
Megumi's eyes went wide. "'Know?' How?"  
  
Aurora reached into her labcoat and pulled out a small digital recorder. Placing it on the table in front of Jun and Megumi, she explained. "We picked this up a few years ago, during the war. We've confirmed it's point of origin." She pressed play, and the group listened.  
  
What followed was several minutes of static and odd noises that they couldn't make out. Jun shook his head, as if trying to shake away a mosquito. There was definitely a voice in there, a voice he couldn't understand.  
  
But he'd swear it was familiar.  
  
"Our analysts have confirmed it's speech!" Aurora announced.  
  
"But what does it mean?" Megumi asked, arms over her chest in an obvious challenge.  
  
The scientist began to twiddle her thumbs. "Well..You see..We can't quite.."  
  
Inez placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder and guided her back to her seat. "Aurora and I are working on cleaning it up," she said. "The point, however, cannot be denied. There is intelligent life in the Epsilon Eridani system."  
  
Jun nodded. He'd asked the question not really expecting a satisfactory answer and had gotten one regardless.  
  
Megumi, however, wasn't convinced. "So what's your angle?" she asked Erina.  
  
"Exploration, the betterment of mankind," Erina told her.  
  
"Bull!"  
  
The CEO's eye twitched, and she growled. "Okay, fine," she bit out.  
  
It was just at that moment the door opened and a slender woman with straight, sandy blonde hair walked in. She adjusted her glasses and sat down at the empty table.  
  
"Sorry I'm late," she said to Erina without preamble.  
  
Erina shook her head and smiled. "No problem. We were just coming to your part in this little enterprise." She gestured to Jun and Megumi. "Captain Jun Aoi and Lieutenant Megumi Aoi, this is Kimberly Tenzca. She's one of our negotiators from our Warsaw office."  
  
"How do you do?" Kimberly asked.  
  
"A negotiator?" Megumi asked, obviously puzzled.  
  
"You asked me to be truthful, so here it is," Erina told her. "No one explores for the hell of it. Columbus didn't discover the new world to fulfill some bullshit dream, he did it for money, moolah. Explorers have always been financed by companies eager to establish new trade routes and discover new products."  
  
Jun laughed.  
  
The rest of the table looked at him in puzzlement.  
  
He shook his head and wiped a tear away. "I get it!" he cried. He looked straight at Erina and laughed again. "The war's over! We're at peace with the Jovian Union! And all that Jovian technology you've built your entire corporation on will soon be available in every store in the UE because of new trade with the Jovians!"  
  
Megumi looked at Erina aghast. "Is that what this is?! You're looking for a newer and better TENNIS SHOE?!"  
  
Erina took a breath. "I will admit," she said slowly. "Nergal is in for a rough patch when trade with the Jovians normalizes, but there's more to this than that."  
  
"Aoi," Inez began, "You're reading too much into this. For whatever reason Erina wants this mission to succeed, it does not change the fact that YOU will be there and YOU will be the one making the decisions."  
  
"I'm not going to get in your way," Kim told him.  
  
Jun looked sideways at her. "No offense to Ms. Tenzca here," he began, speaking to Erina, "But back during the war, I never told you how much having a Nergal watchdog constantly checking to make sure we stayed inside some tiny budget truly and royally sucked."  
  
"Ms. Tenzca is not here to do that," Erina assured him. "She is merely along to protect and promote Nergal's interests. In the event that you encounter intelligent life forms willing to do business, she'll conduct negotiations."  
  
Jun said nothing.  
  
"Unless of course," Erina continued, "You've received your MBA in the last year and would like to take on the responsibility yourself?"  
  
Jun and Megumi both digested this.  
  
Erina smiled at both of them. "Look, no matter what happens, this is still a peaceful exploration mission. Once you're there, Jun, you will be in sole command."  
  
Megumi continued to glare at Erina and fume.  
  
Jun contemplated everything he had heard so far.  
  
"Okay," he said. "When do we go?"  
  
***  
  
Inez knew who was knocking the second she heard the staccato tapping. Only one person knocked like that, a woman full of pent up energy and enthusiasm who rapped her knuckles on the door at roughly the same speed a hummingbird flapped its wings.  
  
"Come in, Aurora," she called out, not moving from her horizontal position on her tiny couch.  
  
The door slid to the side and her boisterous student entered. "Doctor Franssenge?" she asked.  
  
"Over here," Inez called, raising a hand in the air. A few seconds later, Aurora was at her side, bowing politely.  
  
"Doctor Franssenge, I hate to bother you, but I was wondering if you could tell me something."  
  
Inez smiled inwardly. "And what would that be?"  
  
"Well, I mean, only if it's something you want to talk about, I mean..." Aurora flustered.  
  
"Aurora, just ask the question."  
  
The young student took a breath. "Ma'am, why aren't we being more forthcoming with what we know?" She waited for some sign of acknowledgement from Inez. Receiving none, she pressed on. "I mean, wouldn't the mission have a higher chance of success if they knew all the information currently available, I mean?"  
  
Inez said nothing for a moment, exploring every facet of the question as she would a mathematical problem, rolling it around in her mind before finally stating what, exactly, X equaled.  
  
"Aurora, knowledge is power."  
  
Aurora nodded quickly. She knew that. Of course she knew that. Everyone knew that. She waited for her teacher to continue.  
  
"Applying the power of information is no different than applying electrical power to a circuit," Inez went on. "Too much applied in the wrong spot can cause it to fry out, and then it isn't doing anyone any good at all."  
  
"But how is applying it here a danger?" the mousy woman asked, adjusting her glasses.  
  
Inez sighed only loud enough for herself to hear her. "Because, if I gave them too much knowledge, they would never go through with this."  
  
***  
  
"These are the Aestivalis V models," the stocky red-head explained as they walked past the maintenance bays in the Nadesico hangar bay. Her Scottish brogue was not tempered by years of living and working with Japanese, but still decipherable. "Faster, stronger an dey have a miniature transpositional engine, which means dey'rena limited in range by battery pocks or the range o' an energy field creat'd by another ship like the earlier models."  
  
Ryoko, back in her flight suit after four years, nodded along. She paid close attention to the woman. Unlike so many other new faces on the Nadesico, she knew and had flown with Maj. Moira Taggart during the final year of the war. She knew what she was talking about, and Ryoko was willing to bet her life on that.  
  
She had been pleasantly surprised to find Moira's name on the roster as commander of the 343rd Space Combat Squadron, one of the three combat squadrons in Ryoko's 55th Space Combat Group. Izumi was in command of the 45th SCS, a fact that bothered her more than a bit. She hadn't spoken to Izumi in the past five years unless absolutely necessary, and then it was something to be done quickly and gotten over with. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of her in charge of a squadron.  
  
The third squadron commander, she had learned, was not on board yet and was certainly floored when she learned that it was a Jovian Gekigangar commander. Col. Makoto Rikari was slated to command a Gekigangar squadron, the 38th SCS.  
  
Ryoko wondered what he was like. She had never spoken with a Gekigangar pilot outside of Minato's assassinated boyfriend. Minato and Megumi seemed to have liked him, but he always bugged Ryoko. He was always a little too quick to make judgements on someone based on her sex. Minato had eaten it up, playing the demure woman.  
  
With Ryoko, it just pissed her off.  
  
"Do all V models come in so many pieces?" Ryoko asked sardonically.  
  
Moira shook her head and lit a cigarette. "I dinnae know what the foke Nergal is think'n, but it's like they gave us the shite Aesti in every squadron in the UE. No shite, Royoko, there's twenty-fer units here from as mony squadrons and not a one of 'dem is goi'n without some koind 'a patch job."  
  
"How many fly?"  
  
"Eighteen, if all ya want 'dem ter do is fly somewhere," the red-head told her. "Ten if yer look'n for 'em to fight when dey get dhere."  
  
Ryoko ran her hand along the side of a familiar pink Aestivalis and fought down a sense of nostalgia. "Well," she said, not turning to the Scot, "I hear we're getting a Jovian chief engineer. I'm sure he'll be able to get them into shape. The Jovians have a way with robots you wouldn't believe."  
  
"A'd prefer note ta believe it, if it's all da same ta you, Royoko," Moira replied, her arms over her chest. "I dinnae like one bloody bit da idea 'a one 'o dem lazards tinker'n wit MA Aesti."  
  
Ryoko sighed. She knew there was still bad blood on both sides about the war. Hell, she felt it herself, but as the group commander, she had to take a position counter to her feelings, and it looked like it was going to start with Moira.  
  
"Moira, the war is over," she said sternly. "We're going to have to live with half a Jovian crew for a whole year, and the last thing I want right now is a squadron commander stirring that kind of shit. You copy?"  
  
Moira took a drag on her cigarette, but more to hide the sheepish look on her face than anything else. She nodded. "Aye, Ma'am. You will'na here ano'der word aughta me aun it."  
  
"Okay," Ryoko told her. She smiled. "Come on, let's check one of these pieces of shit out. I want to know what we're up against."  
  
***  
  
"I don't like it! I don't like it one bit! Jun chan, she's up to something!"  
  
Megumi hadn't even waited for the door to their quarters to close completely behind them before making that statement, whirling on the re- minted captain the second she thought they were out of earshot of anyone who might be listening.  
  
"Did you see that smug, arrogant smile?!" she asked. "Erina Wong only smiles like that when she's manipulating the hell out of someone! She's setting us up!"  
  
"Meg chan, I don't think you're being completely fair here," Jun said, taking a seat on the fold-out couch. "Don't get me wrong, I think she's got another angle here too, but Erina's never actually tried to get people killed."  
  
"She doesn't have to! Whatever's in Epsilon Eridani might do the job for her!"  
  
"I'm not worried about Erina. We know what kind of person she is. It's Inez that's got me thinking."  
  
Megumi blinked. "Inez?"  
  
"She different. Haven't you noticed?"  
  
The Comm Officer stood there a moment in thought before nodding slowly. "Now that you mention it......"  
  
"It's....I don't know," Jun went on. "It's like she's waiting for something."  
  
"But waiting for what?"  
  
Jun shook his head. "I don't know. But I get the sense that she's doing little more than waiting down clock."  
  
Megumi sighed. "Erina, Inez..... Who else is going to hide stuff from us on this trip?"  
  
"With any luck, Meg chan, no one who means us any harm."  
  
***  
  
The most exciting part of Christmas, in Jun's opinion, had always been when his father had plugged in the lights of the Christmas tree. One by one, a different strand of lights would ignite into brilliant life, and Jun's heart would leap with each one. Now, with the Nadesico going through her final pre-launch sequence, the control boards were lighting up as each system were booted up and brought on line. Standing on the command deck, Jun felt that familiar thrill.  
  
"All stations, give go, no-go for launch," Ruri ordered. "Helm."  
  
"Go launch," Chase announced.  
  
"Comm."  
  
"Go launch," Megumi replied, switching on her board.  
  
"Engineering."  
  
"Go launch."  
  
"Science Station One."  
  
"Go launch," Aurora confirmed.  
  
"Science Station Two."  
  
"Science Station Two is ready," Inez intoned.  
  
Ruri turned to Jun. "Kanchou, the Nadesico is prepared to launch."  
  
Jun suddenly found himself the focus of attention of everyone on the bridge and it occurred to him that they were waiting for him to say something profound. He opened his mouth, but words failed him. Finally, he composed himself enough to say, "Mr. Warren, take us to Mars."  
  
"Aye aye, Sir."  
  
There was a barely imperceptable shift beneath Jun's feet as the Nadesico's engines came alive and moved the warship forward. Jun leaned forward and watched the view window as the Nadesico moved past the other ships in the star harbor as if he could leap out in front of his ship and lead it forward.  
  
His reverie was disturbed by Ryoko's face.  
  
"Oi! Jun!"  
  
Jun gave back a pace in startlement.  
  
"You and me gotta talk," she said. "I don't know what kind of fight you're expecting, but I wouldn't trust these Aesties to beat a couple of wild geese in a fair fight."  
  
The captain sighed. He knew it was only a matter of time before the everyday problems of running a warship crept to the forefront. "I'll be right down, Ryoko." He leaned over the rail to look down at Ruri. "Ruri, you have the bridge." With a nod from Ruri, he walked to the lift and left his nostalgia behind.  
  
"Things broken? On this ship? The devil you say!" Megumi said to Ruri with a knowing smile.  
  
Ruri returned the grin. "The more things change,"  
  
"The more they stay the same," Megumi finished with a sigh. She looked up at the starfield. "Is this a good idea, Ruri chan?"  
  
Ruri shrugged. "Since when has Nergal EVER had a good idea?"  
  
Megumi sighed again. "I'll be honest, Ruri chan. I never wanted to see this ship again."  
  
"Whoever does?" Ruri asked her. She turned back to her station. "After all, this ship attracts nothing but bakas."  
  
"Now don't be mean, Ruri," Chase said, turning his seat to face them. "It attracts women too...." He picked up his guitar and strummed a few notes. "Besides, LT," he went on, pronouncing Megumi's rank "El Tee" and strumming a few more notes, "What are you complaining about? This is....like.....HISTORIC! I mean, true blue hero kind of stuff! This ship is stopping at Mars for gas and sandwiches and then we're going where no man has gone before!"  
  
Ruri stared at him for a moment before turning to Megumi again. "While I don't share his enthusiasm, I must admit this IS unlike any mission anyone has ever been on before."  
  
The random notes from Chase's guitar began to coalesce into a song. "See? Even Ruri is excited."  
  
"Baka."  
  
"C'mon!" Chase tried again. "We're on our way to the far side fo the galaxy to meet REAL LIFE ALIENS! Let's see a little optimism here!" He strummed a bit more and began to sing.  
  
"Ramadan is over! The new moon's shown her face! I'm halfway round the planet In a most unlikely place! Following my songline Past bamboo shacks and shops, Behind a jitney packed like sardines With bananas piled on top!  
  
I ran away from politics It's too bizarre at home! Away I flew tuned into Blue, 'Maybe Amsterdam or Rome.' Awakened by a stewardess, With Spain somewhere below, On the threshold of adventure, God, I do love this job so!"  
  
As he played, his elbow bumped the throttle, and the Nadesico lurched forward.  
  
"So while I make my move On the big board game Up and down a Spanish highway Some things remain the same! Girls meet boys, And boys tease girls! I'm heading out this morning For the far side of the world!"  
  
***  
  
In the Nadesico's galley, Houmei suddenly lost her step as she felt the ship accelerate beneath her feet. Out in the dining facility, she heard two of her waitresses cry out and fall, followed by the sound of breaking glass and clanging pots.  
  
She sighed and smiled. "I think things just got back to normal around here."  
  
***  
  
"Back at home it's afternoon, Six thousand miles away. It will still be there When I get through attending this soiree, There are jobs and chores and questions, And plates I need to twirl! But tonight I'll take my chances On the far side of the world!"  
  
Megumi pressed her headset against her ear to hear over the singing and raised her voice to be heard over the racket.  
  
"Control says we're clear and free to navigate!" she called out.  
  
Ruri was shaking her head. "Bakas.....More bakas....Always bakas...."  
  
Chase bumped the throttle again and finished.  
  
"Yes that's the way it happens On the far side of the world!"  
  
Soon, the twinkling lights of Trinity Spaceyards were far behind.  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
The song "Far Side of the World," is the property of Jimmy Buffett. 


	2. Fruitcakes!

Disclaimer: Nadesico is not my property, only the story herein.  
  
Nadesico: Oysters and Pearls  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Fruitcakes!  
  
'You know I was talking to my friend Desdemona the other day. She runs this space station and bake shop down near Boomtown. She told me that human beings are flawed individuals. The cosmic bakers took us out of the oven a little too early. And that's the reason we're as crazy as we are and I believe it.' 'Take for example when you go to the movies these days, you know. They try to sell you this jumbo drink, 8 extra ounces of watered down cherry coke for an extra 25 cents. I don't want it. I don't want that much organziation in my life. I don't want other people thinking for me. I want my Junior Mints! Where did the Junior Mints go in the movies!? I don't want a 12 pound Nestle's crunch for 25 dollars! I want Junior Mints!' 'We need more fruitcakes in this world and less bakers! We need people that care! I'm mad as hell! And I don't want to take it anymore!'  
  
Jimmy Buffett  
  
New Utopia Colony, Mars  
  
Genechiro Tsukuomi ran his fingers anxiously through his long black hair as he paced in front of the view screen, waiting for the "Stand By" message to change into something more meaningful for him. The conference room in the New Utopia capital building's conference room was comfortable, complete with plush chairs and a table piled high with snacks made from both Earth and Jovian food stocks.  
  
Genechiro didn't care about it. He hadn't cared about anything since opening the sealed envelope containing his orders, and by then it was too late. He was already on Mars.  
  
They had certainly planned for that.  
  
Finally, the screen switched to the face of an elderly gentleman around sixty years old wearing an expression of frank unconcern.  
  
"Commander Tsukuomi," he said in greeting.  
  
"I've been on hold for an hour!" Genechiro railed at him. "What is the meaning of this!? You told me I was going to be a part of a great and noble mission!"  
  
"And you are," the elderly man said with a smug smile. "History will view this assignment, no doubt, as your greatest exploit."  
  
"You're lying," Genechiro accused him. "Speak to me."  
  
The man's smile dropped a hair. "Ship assignments are not up for debate in the Greater Male Forces, Commander. We do what we're ordered to."  
  
"You're ordering me into exile!" Genechiro hissed.  
  
"Exile?" the man asked in mock surprise. "Now what could you have done to warrant exile?"  
  
Genechiro bit his tongue.  
  
The old man's expression slowly morphed into one of wrath. "It took me four years, Genechiro, and even after all that time I don't have the hard, solid evidence to have you killed, but I don't need that, do I?"  
  
The younger man bit his lip. "Admiral...."  
  
"He was your friend," the man whispered. "He trusted you. He asked ME to trust you."  
  
Genechiro's heart went cold and dropped into his stomach like a ball of Callistan ice. Despite the cold fear in his soul, sweat broke out on his forehead.  
  
"You," the old man continued slowly. ".....killed my son." He swallowed back renewed grief and focused a hateful gaze onto Genechiro's soul. "And as long as I draw breath and have the power to do so, I will see to it that you live in humiliation and dishonor."  
  
"Admiral....."  
  
"You will never serve onboard a Jovian vessel again," the admiral hissed. "You will never see the inside of a Gekigangar again. You will never stand before a promotion board again. I will deny you the very ambition and sense of purpose that drove you to kill my son!" he finished. "Until you die a joyless husk of a man."  
  
Genechiro said nothing.  
  
"You have your orders," the admiral told him. "Either accept them or confess to your crime before the council."  
  
Words failed to pierce the cold fog around his mind.  
  
"And may God have mercy on your soul!"  
  
***  
  
Nadesico  
  
"Look at this piece of crap," Ryoko demanded accusingly, pointing at the Aestavalis towering over them. It's torso was blue, it's left leg pink and its right leg yellow. Mismatched though they were, at least the legs were there.  
  
The arms were a different matter entirely.  
  
"I guess he was disarmed," Jun quipped.  
  
"Wokka wokka wokka," Ryoko grumbled. "Is this actually a mission? We're not a float in a parade or something?"  
  
"Mission's real," Jun told her.  
  
"And you want me to work....with this?" She pointed at the armless Aestivalis.  
  
"You have two weeks," Jun said meekly.  
  
Ryoko fumed. "In two weeks I can give you the galaxy's best robot place kicker, but if you want a real Aestavalis, you're going to have to do a HELL of a lot better!"  
  
Jun held in a sigh and did his best placate her. "Tell you what, I'll call ahead to Utopia and tell the Nergal office to have some parts ready by the time we get there. Good enough?"  
  
"No!" Ryoko shot back. "But I suppose it's the best you're going to give me."  
  
He placed a hand on her shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, you know I'd never put this crew at risk by settling for substandard equipment. We'll find a way to get you the parts you need."  
  
She smiled and shook her head. "Hell, Jun, I don't even know what I'm doing back here." She sighed. "It's funny. I had to deal with every low- life in the business, but I miss Havanna."  
  
"I know what you mean," he said. He turned and started for the access hatch.  
  
"You miss Japan that much?" she asked.  
  
"No," he said, turning back to her. "I missed Nadesico."  
  
***  
  
Megumi rolled over in bed as she heard the door hiss close. The clock on the wall screamed 1:42 in bright neon green numerals. She yawned and rolled back again.  
  
"Long day?" she asked sleepily.  
  
Jun sat on the edge of the bed and removed his boots. "Just trying to put out all the fires," he yawned.  
  
"Hmmm, I hope this isn't going to be the norm the way it was during the war," she remarked. "You need sleep."  
  
He collapsed on the bed next to her. "How was your day?" he asked, changing the subject.  
  
"Oh, it was wonderful," she yawned. "Your helmsman used to play for the CoralReefer Band, Ruri's condescending vocabulary has gotten more complex, and Ryoko and Izumi still refuse to speak to one another."  
  
He paused for a moment. "How did you know about that?"  
  
"Talked to Moira on my lunch break," she explained.  
  
Jun sighed. "I guess I better put that on my 'to do' list," he said. "We can't have them like that. They have to work too closely together."  
  
"They'll work it out eventually," Megumi told him while snuggling her pillow. "I think if you butt into it, they'll just dig their heels in. You know how Ryoko is."  
  
"Yeah," he sighed.  
  
She sat up and kissed him. "You're the captain, not God. Don't take it personally."  
  
"I just thought they would have worked through it by now."  
  
Megumi hugged him. "Imagine how it must be for them. They were all so close, and now...."  
  
He hugged back. "Yeah."  
  
"Get some sleep, Jun chan. Tomorrow's another day."  
  
1. * * *  
  
"And so, you see we offer 100 percent tuition assistance, as well as job security as long as you meet the contracted requirements. Of course, there are other benefits such as use of Nergal facilities such as any Nergal Exchange or Commissary, gyms, education offices, etcetera, etcetera...."  
  
Kim Tencza adjusted the papwork before her and looked up at the young Aestivalis technician.  
  
"I don't know," he said uneasily. "I mean, a year away from the whole SOLAR SYSTEM?"  
  
Kim waved the concern aside as if it were nothing more than an annoying gnat. "It's no different than an extended cruise on any other Nergal or UE vessel. Plus, there's the addition of flight and hazard duty pay."  
  
"I don't know," he said again.  
  
"Tell you what," she told him. "We have five days until we reach Mars. Think about it. Talk to some of the other permanent crew members. If you're not interested, no harm, no foul."  
  
He nodded and stood up, shaking her hand before turning and walking out of the office.  
  
She let out a breath and sat down again, just to shoot back up when Jun poked his head into her office.  
  
"Got a minute?" he asked.  
  
"Of course, Kanchou," she told him, gesturing to a seat.  
  
He sat down and began. "As Nergal's civilian representative, and I'm assuming Erina's watchdog, I'm hoping you can tell me why our three Aestavalis squadrons look like something pulled from a scrap yard."  
  
She wagged a finger at him. "Never assume, Kanchou. You make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me.'"  
  
"It's not a statement against YOUR character, Ms. Tencza, just Erina's."  
  
Kim smiled. "As a matter of fact, I HAD heard about our problem with certain mechanical assets on board, and I'm doing what I can to expedite a solution."  
  
Jun arched an eyebrow. "Oh?" he asked noncommittedly.  
  
"Indeed," she replied, turning back to her terminal. "I've already forwarded a request for additional parts to our office in Utopia."  
  
"Oh.....Good," he said.  
  
"However...."  
  
"Uh oh."  
  
"Being a Nergal 'insider,'" She made quote marks with her hands as she said the last part. "I am fully aware of the answer I'll receive before we actually get it, and that answer will be a drawn out excuse as to why they don't have it."  
  
"That's bad."  
  
"However...."  
  
"Go on."  
  
"Knowing that the answer will be no, I have already contacted several private firms who specialize in battlefield salvage. It is quite probable that, using my expense card, we can procure several needed items in operable condition under the table."  
  
"That's good," Jun said.  
  
"However..."  
  
He sighed. "Go on."  
  
"Despite this stop-gap solution, it is highly unlikely that more than half the parts we receive will be without damage that would prevent it from being used long term. In other words, Kanchou, no matter what we get, it will be too little too late."  
  
"I see," he said.  
  
"However...."  
  
"You really like that word, don't you?" he asked her.  
  
"There are other ways to minimize the negative effects," she told him with a smile. "I'm working on that now by renegotiating the contracts of some of our temporary Aestivalis technicians; the ones who would be leaving when we get to Mars. If we can keep some of them, the life expectancy of our Aestavalis fleet would be considerably increased."  
  
He thought on that for a moment, then nodded. "I see. It seems I owe you an apology, Ms. Tencza."  
  
She gave him another predatory smile. "Kanchou," she said, shutting her terminal off. "I'm not going to lie to you. During the war, I was the proctor on the Suisen." She leaned over her desk as if sharing a great secret with him. "And I prided myself on being able to squeeze the life out of a dime. This is a different situation. If we get into trouble out there, there's not a soul in this solar system who can help us."  
  
Jun said nothing.  
  
"So, as you can see, it's in my own best interest to make sure that Nadesico has everything she needs before her little trip to the stars."  
  
* ** *  
  
The clock in Jun's office read 10:30 as he finished his second cup of coffee. Blinking, he turned back to his monitor and hit the record button.  
  
"We're one day out from Mars, and I think we've shaken the majority of the bugs out. At least the mechanical ones. One of the things that has always been buggy about this ship is the personnel assigned to her. They're all experts in their fields, but as Proctor once put it, they have slight personality problems."  
  
He paused and checked his coffee cup. Seeing it empty, he rose and went to the coffee machine on the table at the other end of the room.  
  
"I'm not complaining," he said as he poured. "It's always worked in our favor, after all. It's just that when I first took command of the Nadesico, I had already been the XO for two years. I knew the quirks. These are new quirks on a new kind of mission. It's unsettling."  
  
He returned to his desk. "I've been reading the service records of our new additions. The Jovian military was good enough to send the records of their half of the crew, however, I suspect many of them have been abridged. For instance, our new chief engineer, Hideki Amano, is supposedly a genius, the top man in his field, yet for some reason he spent the war working in a salvage yard on Ganymeade."  
  
"Colonel Makoto Rikari's record goes on and on about his combat prowess. It indicates that he was up for a star, and yet, for some inexplicable reason, he was suddenly reassigned to the Nadesico."  
  
He paused and looked at the Spirit of St. Louis model on his desk. "The record of my new XO, Genechiro Tsukuomi, is likewise, very distinguished. Fought in numerous engagements, including battles AGAINST the Nadesico herself. He commanded a battle group during the war. Yet, suddenly, he's transferred to the Nadesico by order of a Jovian admiral named Kaoru Shiratori. There's no way of knowing short of coming out and actually asking, but I'm forced to wonder if he is in any way related to Commander Tsukimo Shiratori, the Jovian peace envoy who was assassinated during the first aborted peace talks."  
  
He paused the recorder. "More damn politics."  
  
A flick of his finger reactivated the device as he settled in with his coffee. "Of course, it's unfair to go on about the bugs in the Jovian side of things without going a little more into the bugs on the UE side...."  
  
*****  
  
The Nadesico Club was open to everyone regardless of rank. It was the one place aboard ship where the UE and Nergal's rules didn't apply. Officers drank with enlisted, pilots with mechanics and Jun hoped, eventually, Earthers with Jovians.  
  
At this hour of the night, the place was essentially empty, with only a couple of night shift workers there eating their lunch. In one corner, however, Jun was not surprised to see a man in a blue Hawaiian shirt and a guitar.  
  
Jun walked up to the bar and nodded to the civilian contractor working behind it. Without a word, the man handed him a bag containing a sandwich.  
  
"Your usual midnight snack, Sir," the bartender announced, a hint of a Latin accent flavoring his speech.  
  
Jun gestured to the man in the corner. "What time does he usually leave?"  
  
"El mariachi?" the bartender asked him. "He's usually out of here by midnight."  
  
Jun took his snack and walked to the corner, taking the seat opposite the man with the guitar. "Late night?" he asked.  
  
Chase smiled. "I have trouble sleeping," he said simply, strumming a light tune.  
  
The captain nodded and opened his bag, removing the sandwich and applying generous amounts of mustard to it. "Ask you a question?" he requested casually.  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"What's your angle?" he asked.  
  
Chase nearly laughed. "You mean 'what part of the Nadesico curse am I?'"  
  
Jun gave him a questioning look.  
  
The musician shrugged. "We all heard about the Nadesico, you know. How you couldn't be a member of the crew unless you had some kind of mental issue. It was called 'the Nadesico Curse.'"  
  
"I guess the UE must have thought we were all crazy," Jun remarked with a smile.  
  
"I always wanted to be part of something crazy," Chase told him.  
  
Before Jun could comment, Ruri's face appeared before him in a comm window.  
  
"Kanchou, please report to the bridge."  
  
And before he could react, she was gone again.  
  
"Snack time's over."  
  
*****  
  
"What's the story, Ruri chan?" Jun asked as he and Chase stepped onto the bridge. Chase took his seat at the helm as Ruri typed a query into the computer.  
  
"It started ten minutes and thirty three seconds ago," Ruri informed him, her eyes not leaving her panel or her fingers slowing on the keyboard. "Sensors detected a sillhouette at the very edge of our sensor range, then it disappeared. It just appeared a second time, and Omoikane got enough of a look at it to take a guess at what it was."  
  
"Don't keep us in suspense, Little Ruri," Chase asked.  
  
"Sillhouette is similar to a Y Type Gekigangar unit."  
  
"Y Type?" Jun repeated.  
  
Ruri nodded and stopped typing. "Omoikane reports that the Y Type is smaller than the usual Gekigangar models, as they were designed to fight the more agile Aestivalis in head to head combat. The presence of one, Omoikane warns, hints at the presence of others."  
  
"All stop, Skipper?" Chase asked.  
  
Jun thought for a moment and actually smiled. "Negative, Mister Warren. Increase to flank speed."  
  
"Um....We're running?" Chase asked.  
  
Jun's smile didn't leave, but he didn't answer either. "Flank speed, please, Mister Warren."  
  
Chase turned back to his panel and shrugged. "Flank speed, aye."  
  
The Nadesico all but leapt ahead. Jun instinctively grabbed hold of his command console to steady himself. "Watch the board, Ruri chan," he ordered.  
  
Ruri blinked as several red blips appeared for a moment, then suddenly vanished. "Kanchou! Sensors detected twelve sillhouettes, but they vanished a moment later!"  
  
Jun nodded. Standard operating procedure in a case like this dictated that the ship stop and take up a defensive posture. By moving ahead so quickly, he had managed to take the opposing commander by surprise. There were only two things that worried him now: That the opposing commander knew enough about UE procedures to set a trap like that and that he had managed to move his forces away so quickly when caught.  
  
"Stand by gravity blast cannon, Kanchou?" Ruri asked.  
  
"Negative, Ruri chan. He's too smart for that."  
  
"Skipper?"  
  
Jun smiled again. "He won't bunch his men up enough to make the gravity blast worth it." He stood straighter and put on his combat voice. "Stand by point defenses!"  
  
"Point defense grid standing by!" Ruri echoed.  
  
"Five percent power!" Jun amended.  
  
"What?" Chase whispered to himself.  
  
The order caught Ruri off guard as well, but her shock came only as a two second delay before echoing the order.  
  
"Five percent power!"  
  
"Mister Warren, on my order I want a dead stop and a hundred and eighty degree spin to starboard."  
  
"Aye aye, Sir," Chase replied. "But shouldn't we launch the Alert Five or something? I mean, five percent power is like hitting them with a flashlight."  
  
Jun shook his head. "This isn't a battle, Mister Warren. It's an audition."  
  
"Audition?!"  
  
"Stand by," Jun ordered. "And......now!"  
  
"All stop!" Chase confirmed. "Coming about!"  
  
"Twelve Y Type Gekigangars phasing in on all sides, Kanchou!" Ruri announced.  
  
"Point defense fire!"  
  
The short range plasma phalanx cannons located on each side of the ship opened up, firing at only a fraction of their potential power. Three Gekigangars were hit, and despite receiving no damage, stood perfectly still in space as a result. The others managed to evade the fire and leap back out of range.  
  
For several moments, neither side moved.  
  
Jun turned to the comm technician on duty. "Open a Jovian military channel, please." He got a nod a second later and began. "Jovian commander, this Captain Jun Aoi of the Nadesico. Are you satisfied?"  
  
A helmeted figure appeared on the forward screen. "Captain Aoi, this Colonel Makoto Rikari of the Superior Jovian Male Forces. We are quite satisfied."  
  
"You're well versed on UE military procedures, Colonel," Jun complimented.  
  
A faint smile could be seen through the helmet's visor. "Better versed than you, it would seem. SOP is to take up a defensive posture upon detection of an enemy scout. I'm not sure how I feel about being under the command of someone who behaves so irrationally."  
  
Jun blushed a bit and scratched his head. //You ain't seen nothing yet if you think I'm irrational,// he thought. "Whenever you're ready, Colonel, you have permission to land."  
  
"Thank you, Captain."  
  
"Colonel Subaru and I will meet you on the flight deck."  
  
Rikari nodded and the image vanished.  
  
"You're expecting these maniacs, Skipper?" Chase asked.  
  
"Do me a favor, Ruri chan, and wake up Ryoko. Tell her her new squadron commander is here."  
  
******  
  
"Waking my ass up in the middle of the night is NOT the way to make a good first impression," Ryoko growled.  
  
"For what it's worth," Jun told her as the tenth Gekingangar landed on the flight deck, "He's good."  
  
"Yeah, yeah," she yawned. "Hero of Io, Saviour of Ganymeade, I read the file."  
  
Jun said nothing for a moment. "Ryoko, I hope you're not going to be influenced by what happened to...."  
  
"Jun, you run your ship and I'll run my wing. Fair deal?"  
  
He sighed. "Probably as fair as I'm going to get."  
  
She was quiet as the eleventh Gekigangar landed. "He and his guys will get a fair shake, Jun," she said quietly a second later.  
  
"That's all I ask."  
  
The last Gekigangar landed and lumbered over to the line of other robots waiting for it. The hatch opened as the embarkation ladder rolled over to it. A small, lithe person descended, and Ryoko snorted.  
  
"Kind of a little guy, ain't he?" she asked quietly. "I thought the Jovians stressed 'superior maleness' or something."  
  
Jun arched an eyebrow and cleared his throat.  
  
"Um.....Not that being short makes you less of a man or anything," Ryoko corrected.  
  
"I didn't think you said that," Jun told her. Before he could say more, the pilot was before them, removing his helmet and saluting.  
  
"Captain Aoi, Colonel Makoto Rikari, reports as ordered."  
  
"Not to me, you're not," Jun told him. "Colonel Ryoko Subaru is in charge of flight operations onboard the Nadesico. She'll be your commanding officer."  
  
Makoto looked at Ryoko and blinked, the pilot's eyes resting on her chest, shocked.  
  
"EYES FRONT, ASSHOLE!" Ryoko cried, indignant.  
  
*******  
  
Makoto looked at the Colonel's chest in shock. A woman. A WOMAN was the Nadesico's wing commander! She had heard that the Earthers were more progressive about females in their society, but she never in a million years would have guessed that.....  
  
"EYES FRONT, ASSHOLE!"  
  
Suddenly it was like Makoto was back on the grinder at basic training. Her back went straight and stiff and her eyes locked dead ahead.  
  
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF LAX BULLSHIT YOUR JOVIAN *SUPERIOR* MALE FORCES ARE USED TO, BUT WAKING MY ASS UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT THEN OGLING MY CHEST IS THE FIRST STEPS ON A JOURNEY TO A WORLD OF HURT!!!"  
  
"Yes, Ma'am!"  
  
"WHAT?! YOU'VE NEVER SEEN A FEMALE WHO WASN'T POLISHING YOUR BOOTS OR MAKING YOU FUCKING COOKIES BEFORE?!"  
  
"No, Ma'am!"  
  
"IT MUST REALLY PISS YOU OFF TO HAVE TO TAKE ORDERS FROM SOME DAINTY, WEAK- WILLED LITTLE FLOWER OF FEMININITY!" Ryoko roared. "DID YOU GO TO A MILITARY ACADEMY?! DOES YOUR DADDY KNOW YOU TAKE ORDERS FROM A WOMAN?! IT WOULD *KILL HIM!* WOULDN'T IT?! YOU WENT TO THE ACADEMY FOR THIS!"  
  
"YES, MA'AM!"  
  
Off to the side, Makoto's squadron mates were at attention, but grinning madly.  
  
Ryoko glared at him for another minute, then nodded. "This was not a good first meeting," she whispered in his face. "You had best unFUCK yourself! We have to spend a year together, and I don't give a damn what kind of fucking hero your people take you for. You're MY bitch now!"  
  
"Yes, Ma'am!" Makoto replied, her eyes never leaving their forward and locked position.  
  
Ryoko chucked a finger at the other pilots. "Get your people and your shit together and report to sickbay for quarantine check."  
  
Makoto saluted. "Yes, Ma'am!" Executing a perfect about face, Makoto marched toward her men.  
  
Her second in command, Major Mutake, grinned. "Don't feel bad, Sir. She has a very nice chest."  
  
*******  
  
Jun whistled in awe. "Wasn't that a little over the top, Ryoko?"  
  
"Fucking pervert," Ryoko muttered. "But no, Jun. I needed to bring him down a peg. He's a hero, and heroes have this stupid idea in their head that they know what's best all the time."  
  
Jun smiled. "I know exactly what you mean." He quickly hurried off.  
  
Ryoko arched an eyebrow. "HEY! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" she shouted at his back.  
  
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" he called back over his shoulder. He waved to Makoto as he ran past. "Welcome aboard, Colonel!"  
  
Ryoko shook her head. "The more things change....."  
  
*******  
  
"Major."  
  
Mutake turned and saw Makoto standing in the doorway. In a flash, he snapped to attention. "Sir!"  
  
"Have the men's needs been met?" she asked.  
  
"Met and more, Sir," he replied. "The quarters are cushier than what they're used to. Earthers pamper their military, it seems."  
  
"Think of it as a vacation, Major," she told him with a smile.  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
"Is there something on your mind, Major?" she asked.  
  
"Well, Sir," he began. "It's just that..... Permission to speak freely, Sir?"  
  
"Of course, Major."  
  
"It's the bloody women, Sir!" Mutake blurted. "I mean.....the men weren't expecting this! They told us women would be aboard, yes, but in support roles like secretaries and....and.....waitresses.....You know.....WOMEN jobs. Answering to a female wing commander.....It's thrown the men, Sir."  
  
Makoto sighed. Mutake was a good pilot and soldier, but was still at heart a Jovian man. "Colonel Subaru's war record is very distinguished," she told him.  
  
"But it's just not right, Sir!" Mutake told her. "I know we have to live with it, I'm just saying it's going to be weird for the men! I mean, it was weird for you too! We all saw it!"  
  
Makoto was caught short. Yes, finding out what gender the notorious Colonel Subaru was threw her for a loop, but not for this reason.  
  
She knew the tightrope she was walking and took a minute to gather her words. "Major.....Shinji," she amended, using his first name. "I understand there will be a period of adjustment involved. Remember, the Earthers are not like us. Their views are different than ours, and we have to respect those views."  
  
"Yes, Sir," Mutake said, sounding anything but satisfied.  
  
Makoto decided to take a different tact. "Major, I answer to Colonel Subaru, but YOU still answer to me! Do you have a problem with THAT?"  
  
"No, Sir!"  
  
"Then let me worry about it."  
  
He smiled. "Yes, Sir."  
  
Makoto turned to go. "One more thing, Major," she said, turning back to him. "Subtley remind the men of what I just said. I don't want any cross cultural miscommunications developing here. Several of the ship's key officers, and all of the squadron commanders are female."  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
"Remind them that they are ambassadors of the Jovian Union, so they'd better act like it."  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
Makoto nodded and left with an inaudible sigh. Walking down the hallway, she couldn't help but laugh at the irony. For the first time in her life, she was aboard a ship where her gender wouldn't matter, and she still had to hide it or risk losing her final link to a homeworld she knew she'd never see again.  
  
"What a bitch," she remarked.  
  
*******  
  
Megumi opened her eyes and yawned. Turning her head, she saw her husband, still in his uniform, snoring loudly next to her. Sighing, she sat up and climbed out of bed. Tucking him in, she hit the comm panel on the wall.  
  
"Ruri, this is Megumi. Jun asked me to call and let you know he's going to be delayed this morning."  
  
"Understood."  
  
She sighed and got dressed. Scribbling a quick note for Jun, she adjusted her skirt and stepped out into the corridor.....  
  
Only to run smack into Aurora Dayne.  
  
"Oh! I'm sorry, Lieutenant Aoi! I didn't mean to...."  
  
Megumi waved the apology aside and smiled. "Please, don't worry about it! They always say you're supposed to look both ways before crossing the street, you know."  
  
Aurora adjusted her glasses and nodded. "Oh! I was going to call you today and ask for an appointment to go over the specs for the long range tranceiver and...."  
  
"Well," Megumi interrupted, trying to stave off a five-minute explanation from Inez's overzealous apprentice, "I was just on my way to the cafeteria to have breakfast. Why don't you join me?"  
  
The smile on Aurora's face threatened to wrap around her entire head. "I'd love to! You have no idea what this means to me!"  
  
"Um....Sure," Megumi answered. She started down the corridor, the bubbly student right behind her.  
  
"You know," Aurora began. "I probably shouldn't be saying this, but I'm a REALLY big fan."  
  
"Fan?" the commo asked her.  
  
Aurora nodded. "I've seen ALL of your anime! Magic Princess Lovely! Indian Jazz! Sweepers! Lovely Witch Alissa!"  
  
Megumi blushed. "Oh! That's very nice of you to say!"  
  
"Robo Techno War! Pretty Soldier Sailor Love!" Aurora continued.  
  
"I had no idea they even showed those anime anymore!" Megumi declared, still blushing.  
  
"Well, you have to dig for them, nowadays! That's how I found your other works!"  
  
Megumi's blush deepened. "Um.....My.....other works?"  
  
Aurora nodded vigorously. "Like Lustful Sister Minako, Demon Nurses, and Passion Warrior Ai!"  
  
Megumi was sweating now, her blush covering her from head to toe. "Yes.....well.......Glad to know you enjoyed them. Ohlookwe'reherelet'sgoinside!"  
  
The commo practically ran into the cafeteria.  
  
She blinked as she realized she didn't recognize any of the men eating there. Their uniforms, however, were instantly recognizable to any otaku as they matched the costumes worn by the characters in Gekigangar III.  
  
"Wow! These must be the new Jovian pilots!" Aurora cried in excitement.  
  
Eleven pairs of eyes zeroed in on them like Aesti's locking onto a Jovian Grasshopper.  
  
"Um.....Did I say something wrong?" Aurora whispered.  
  
A second later, they were all over the two women.  
  
"Can I offer you a chair?!"  
  
"What would like to drink?!"  
  
"Oh, don't sit at that table! The chair has a stain!"  
  
"Don't worry! We'll bring your breakfast to you!"  
  
The crowd was so busy making sure that the two women were accomodated, that they didn't notice the same two women crawling out from beneath the crowd and making their way to the cafeteria line.  
  
"Wow, Jovian guys are really chivalrous, huh?" Aurora asked.  
  
"Yeah, it's almost charming for a few minutes," Megumi replied.  
  
"Tell me about it," Houmei commented as she poured miso soup for the both of them. "I had to actually chase them away from my kitchen. They felt my girls shouldn't work so hard just to make breakfast for them."  
  
"How'd you chase them off?" Megumi asked.  
  
Houmei smiled and hefted her meat cleaver. "Chef's secret."  
  
Megumi turned to the men, who were returning to their seats. "Wish us luck."  
  
As the two women approached the tables, Aurora piped up. "So where should we sit?"  
  
Eleven men shot up and pulled out chairs.  
  
Megumi sighed and just took the first chair offered to her. Amara took the seat opposite of her, and the two pilots who offered their seats sat next to them. "Thank you," she said.  
  
"Oh, please don't mention it," the pilot on her right told her. "What kind of men would we be if we sat while women were still standing?"  
  
"That's very kind of you," Aurora told him. She offered her hand. "I'm Aurora Dayne. How do you do?"  
  
The pilot took her hand and kissed it. "Second Lieutenant Hideki Hataro."  
  
Aurora turned beet red and squealed quietly.  
  
The other pilot looked at Megumi expectantly.  
  
"Lieutenant Megumi Aoi," she announced politely. The pilot went to take her hand, and she held it up. "See the ring?!"  
  
The pilot, seeing the wedding band on her finger, bowed so quickly, his head hit the table. "PLEASE FORGIVE ME, MA'AM! I DIDN'T REALIZE! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"  
  
Megumi took a sip of her soup as the pilot all but broke down into tears next to her.  
  
Hataro frowned at his friend. "Jeez, Kaoru, don't embarass us. Miss Dayne, would you pass the salt, please?"  
  
"Oh! Sure!" Aurora replied. Reaching out to hand him the condiment, her hand clumsily knocked over his coffee, spilling it all over his lap.  
  
"ACK!"  
  
"OH! I'M SO SORRY!" Aurora cried, leaping to her feet and snatching several napkins off her tray. She dropped to her knees and began wiping at his crotch with the napkins. "I can't believe I was so clumsy as to....."  
  
"Aurora," Megumi hissed.  
  
The lab assistant looked up and blinked, continuing to dab at the pilot's lap. "Yes, Lieutenant Aoi?" Looking up, she saw that Hataro had gone stock still and his complexion was an ash gray. His expression was of a man scared out of his mind. "Uh......oh....." Aurora muttered.  
  
"Hataro, Yamada, why don't you finish breakfast on the flight deck?"  
  
Looking up, Megumi and Aurora saw Makoto standing over them, holding a tray.  
  
The two pilots practically ran out of the cafeteria.  
  
"I hope I didn't offend him," Aurora said sheepishly.  
  
"A woman was going to do that to him eventually," Makoto said diplomatically as she took a seat. "And if not, I'm sure now there will always be a special place in Hataro's heart for you, Miss Dayne."  
  
"That's great.....I think...."  
  
"I must apologize if my men make you ladies uncomfortable," Makoto continued. "In our culture, the presence of women onboard a warship is unheard of."  
  
Megumi smiled sweetly and put her soup down. "The Nadesico is no longer a battleship," she told her. "It's an exploration vessel now. A ship of peace, Mr....  
  
Makoto smiled in return. "Colonel Makoto Rikari," she introduced herself. "And you would be the ship's communications officer, Lt. Aoi?"  
  
Megumi nodded.  
  
The squadron commander picked at her plate. "My men mean well," she told them in between bites. "But don't be afraid to draw the line with them. After all, part of this whole endeavour is to....enlighten one another...in the ways of cultures."  
  
"I thought you were coming aboard when the Nadesico got to Mars," Megumi noted. "Was there a change?"  
  
Makoto shrugged. "My men are still fairly new," she explained. "I wanted to give them some practice, and with the armistice there is an appalling shortage of UE battleships in the area to stalk."  
  
"I see," she replied. "What about the rest of the Jovian crew?"  
  
"Still on Mars," Makoto told her with a shrug.  
  
******  
  
"So what do you think of our new additions?" Jun asked as Megumi stepped onto the bridge.  
  
"I thought you were sleeping in?" she interrupted.  
  
He shrugged.  
  
"They're...." Megumi began.  
  
"....A hoot!" Chase finished. "You should've seen the ones I was screwing with in sickbay last night. I just had the nurse walk back and forth across the room near them." He shook his head and laughed. "It was like a yo yo! Up! Down! Up! Down!"  
  
"That's awful!" Megumi cried.  
  
"But freaking hilarious," Ryoko argued as she walked up the gangway to Jun's station. She unceremoniously handed him a datapad. "Let's hope Tencza pulls through on those parts. Right now, those Gekigangars are the backbone of our defenses."  
  
"They're nice young men," Megumi sniffed as she took her seat. "They were just raised differently....with MANNERS!" She shot a look at Chase.  
  
"Hey, I'm as chivalrous as the next guy, but there are extremes, you know."  
  
"I don't like them."  
  
Heads turned to Ryoko.  
  
"Something wrong, Ryoko?" Jun asked.  
  
"It's just," she began. "It's Rikari," she said finally. "I decided to try to smooth things over by giving him a tour of the ship before breakfast, and I noticed a few things."  
  
"Like what?" Chase asked. He was turned around in his chair and straddling it.  
  
"It's nothing I can really put my finger on. Just feelings. For instance..." She walked over to Chase. "Stand up."  
  
The helmsman obeyed.  
  
Ryoko bowed to him from the waist. "It's nice to meet you." She rose again.  
  
Chase paused for a second, then bowed.  
  
"There! That's what I mean!"  
  
"What?" Megumi asked. "He didn't bow low enough?"  
  
"No, not that. When pervert boy here bowed, he maintained eye contact with me for half the bow, then his eyes went right to my chest. Just for a second, but it happened."  
  
No one spoke for a moment.  
  
"Okay," Megumi conceded. "Chase is a pervert......So?"  
  
"So when I met Rikari this morning, I did the same bow, but he kept eye contact the entire time."  
  
"So what?" Megumi asked incredulously.  
  
"But it's not just that!" Ryoko snapped back. "I mean, no interest whatsoever!"  
  
Chase snapped his fingers and pointed at Ryoko. "I get it!"  
  
Ryoko gestured to Chase as if to say, "See!? He gets it!"  
  
"You're just pissed because your flirts didn't work!"  
  
Ryoko turned on him like an incensed cobra. "Excuse the fuck out of me?" she hissed.  
  
"Oh come on!" Chase said with a grin. "You're having a hissy fit because the guy didn't pick up on your signals?! Sounds petty to me...."  
  
Ryoko leapt across the bridge railing at the helmsmen, but ended up tripping and falling to the deck.  
  
"Maybe he's gay."  
  
"Ruri chan!" Megumi cried in reply.  
  
Ryoko sat up and scratched her head. "There's something else," she said, her anger seemingly forgotten. "Last night, remember how I sent them for a med check?"  
  
Jun nodded.  
  
"Well, I got results back for everyone EXCEPT Rikari. When I asked Inez about it, she said that none of her scans would work on him. HE says that he has a blood condition that requires nanomachines in his cardiopulmonary system to regulate his heartrate. Apparently, these machines give off an EM field that blocks med scans. CAT scans, MRI's, nothing will read him."  
  
Jun frowned. "Ryoko, are you suggesting that Colonel Rikari is....what? An alien? A robot?"  
  
"Look, all I'm saying is that he's hiding something."  
  
Jun locked eyes with her for several seconds. Finally, he nodded. "Okay. Keep an eye on him, but don't be insulting about it."  
  
"And try not to sexually harass him, okay?" Chase chided. "It's his first day."  
  
This time, Ryoko got a good shot in, punching him in the back of the head so hard, his face hit the helm.  
  
Ruri sighed. "Baka."  
  
*******  
  
From the log of Ruri Hoshino.  
  
"For once, the Nadesico was able to land on Mars without destroying a large piece of it, for which the citizens of the New Utopia colony were grateful. The rest of the Jovian half of our crew came aboard with less flourish than I thought Nergal would give them. Another surprise came in the form of what the majority of that Jovian half consisted of...."  
  
********  
  
Megumi turned the corner and squeaked as she came to a halt. Before her, a yellow "Grasshopper" robot turned its head, focusing its four red eyes on her.  
  
"Um....Hello," Megumi said with a nervous wave.  
  
"It won't hurt you."  
  
The commo turned and saw a large, bearded man before her. He stood at least seven feet tall and his tanned head was shaved bare, his hairless pate reflected light from the overhead lamps. His beared narrowed to a sharp point just above where his neck met his chest.  
  
"Oh, I wasn't really afraid," Megumi explained. "I've met one or two before, during the war."  
  
He walked past her and knelt next to the robot, patting its head affectionately. "Fluffy here is my assistant, a special model designed to help me interface with the others."  
  
"You must be Amano san," Megumi ventured.  
  
He nodded. "I was just taking a look at your ship."  
  
"Would you like a tour?" the commo offered.  
  
"I was told we were to meet with the captain soon," Hideki told her.  
  
"Oh jeez," Megumi muttered, checking her watch. "You're right, we're going to be late. The conference room is this way."  
  
Amano bowed slightly. "Thank you. Is it far?"  
  
"A little. This ship is bigger than it looks from the outside."  
  
Hideki knelt next to the robot again. "Fluffy," he said gently. "Mode two."  
  
The grasshopper looked at him and gave a high pitched fluting noise. It took a few steps forward and rested its stomach onto the ground. Its legs bent upwards, and the robot began making whirring and clicking sounds.  
  
"Um....Is your robot all right?" Megumi asked.  
  
"Fluffy's fine. She's something of an experiment in theological engineering," Hideki told her.  
  
"I see," she replied, not really understanding.  
  
Finally, Fluffy stopped moving. Megumi could only blink at what was now sitting there.  
  
"It's....It's...."  
  
"It's a segeway!" Hideki announced, climbing onboard. Two of Fluffy's insectile legs had folded up and become handles. "Climb aboard," he announced.  
  
Megumi hesitated, then finally shrugged and stepped up, wrapping her arms around the Jovian's waist. A second later, Fluffy was zipping down the corridor, with Megumi squealing along.  
  
*******  
  
"I don't think anyone has to be reminded of the historical significance of this moment," Jun told the assembled officers seated around the conference room table. On one side sat Megumi, Ruri, Ryoko, and Inez. On the other sat Genechiro, Hideki and Makoto. "I wish," Jun continued, "That I had the words to properly express what this day means for both our peoples. I can only hope that one day some historian will know better ones, but for now...." He smiled. "Welcome aboard."  
  
Hideki grinned widely while Makoto offered a more restrained smile. Genechiro stared out the window.  
  
"I wish we had more time to get acquainted, but unfortunately we have some pressing business," Jun went on. "Before we can leave Mars, we have to solve a supply itch. The Aestivalises Nergal and the UE has supplied us with are substandard. Our Nergal rep thinks we might be able to acquire some decent parts second hand, but....."  
  
"Why bother?"  
  
Seven heads turned to Genechiro, who was still staring out the window. He looked up at Jun.  
  
"We have Colonel Rikari's Gekigangars, which are already vastly superior to your Aestivalis," he elaborated.  
  
No one spoke for a moment. The condescencion in that statement had suddenly made the air in the briefing room ten degrees colder. When Jun finally spoke, he was careful not to let any of his aggravation show. "The Aestivalis has been a staple of the UE since the beginning of the war," he told him. "Two of our three combat squadrons onboard are Aestivalis squadrons."  
  
Genechiro raised his hand and began counting off on his fingers. "They have no boson jump capabilities. Their armor is only half as sturdy. Their firepower is inferior to...."  
  
"With all due respect to Commander Tsukuomi," Makoto interrupted tentatively. "The Aestivalis is hardly an inferior war machine. Merely a different kind of one. While the commander is right about the Gekigangar's advantages, the Aestivalis is faster in convential space, more agile and better suited for air and land combat."  
  
"We've never had a problem kicking YOUR tail with them," Ryoko growled.  
  
"Enough," Jun said quickly. "Regardless of our own opinions of which craft is better, leaving Mars with only twelve operational combat spacecraft is unacceptable."  
  
Ryoko shrugged. "Just don't move the ship. Tell 'em if they want us to go to the other side of the galaxy, they gotta pony up some parts."  
  
"Nergal's never worked like that," Megumi argued. "They'd just fire us all and replace US with damaged parts."  
  
"Excuse me," Hideki said, raising his hand. "But I might be able to solve your problem."  
  
Jun motioned for him to continue.  
  
Hideki stood up and began to speak; slowly at first, but faster as he gathered confidence. "I've had ideas for special....modifications...to Jovian robots. Now I've been reading up on UE technology since the armistice, and I'm convinced the mods would work just as well or even better on an Aestivalis. I've brought designs with me and my pets brought enough basic materials to fashion the parts I need as long as the Nadesico has the equipment to do so."  
  
"What kind of modifications?" Megumi asked.  
  
Hideki licked his lips nervously and looked from side to side at Genechiro and Makoto before quickly sputtering. "Modular transformation."  
  
"Heresy!" Makoto hissed incedulously.  
  
"With some simple mechanical and metallurgical changes, your Aestivalises will be an even match for a Gekigangar!" Hideki continued.  
  
Genechiro actually moved his chair away from the engineer. "A Macrossian heretic," he growled, pointing at Hideki. "I suspected as much!"  
  
Megumi, Ryoko and Jun looked to each other in puzzlement. Inez remained aloof while Ruri rested her chin in her hands.  
  
"Baka."  
  
"I think we're missing something," Ryoko commented.  
  
"Jun chan, I've seen what Hideki is talking about. It's amazing! If he can do the same for the Aestis...."  
  
"He'll do no such thing!" Genechiro shouted. "If we were on Io, he'd be thrown in prison for simply suggesting the idea!"  
  
"It's sound theory, not heresy!" Hideki shouted back. "It's narrow- minded, ultra-conservative viewpoints like that that has held up progress since we've discovered boson technology! If we had been allowed a free hand in developing it, WE might have been the ones to invent things like the transpositional cannon!"  
  
Genechiro shook his head angrily. "I will have you thrown into the deepest, darkest hole on Ganymeade for this...."  
  
The sound of a palm striking the table and everyone's water glasses jumping in response jarred the room into silence.  
  
"All right! Cut it out!" Jun cried. "Now I don't know what kind of religious dogmatic holy war we just wandered into, but it stops right here. This is not a Jovian vessel, it's a UE exploration vessel. And one thing the UE guarantees for ALL of their crewmembers is freedom of religious expression. Now Commander Amano has just offered us a way out of this mess, and unless anyone has a sound SCIENTIFIC reason for objecting, I'm going to order him to go forward with it."  
  
No one said a word. Jun met each of their eyes. Makoto stared back for a moment, but nodded reluctantly. Genechiro turned away angrily.  
  
"Ryoko," Jun continued. "I want you to find your ugliest, most worthless Aesti and give it to Commander Amano to play with. Commander, do what you can with it and show me what you come up with. I'll make a final decision then."  
  
Hideki saluted. "You got it, boss man!"  
  
Genechiro glowered, and Makoto looked none too pleased. Jun decided to cut his losses on this meeting. He summoned a smile. "Now that we've managed to thoroughly irritate each other at our first meeting, how about a tour of the ship?"  
  
*****  
  
The cargo container struck the floor with a loud, metallic crash, spilling its contents all over the floor. Gilad Atzmon hissed and muttered a curse in Hebrew. "Get that shit back in the container!" he barked. Two sailors jumped to obey, tossing the contents back into the rectangular box. He hissed again as he saw shadows approach the door. Jumping forward, he threw the cover over the container and stepped back.  
  
"ROOM, TENCH-HUT! OFFICER ON DECK!"  
  
The dozen other men in the laundry room came to stiff attention just as Jun and the other officers entered. "The ship's laundry," Jun announced. "We didn't have laundrymen on our last cruise, it was a secondary detail, so the crew is viewing them as the greatest new addition." He smiled at the Jovians. "Present company excepted, of course." Makoto and Hideki smiled while Genechiro frowned.  
  
Jun turned to Gilad, and the older man saluted. "Senior Chief Petty Officer Gilad Atzmon, chief launderer," he announced.  
  
The captain offered his hand, and the sailor shook it. "As a man who ruined several good shirts, I say welcome aboard." He stepped past the chief and looked at the laundrymen in admiration. "You run a tight ship," he noted.  
  
Gilad's eyes flickered to his feet. Sitting next to his toe was one of the items held in the container. His men must have missed it. He quickly, but discreetly placed his foot on top of it. "Thank you, Sir. It means a lot to the men to hear you say that."  
  
Genechiro stepped forward and stood toe to toe with one of the men, a muscular black man in a tank top. The man stared straight ahead. "Sloppy shave," he noted.  
  
Gilad bristled. "Proof's in the results....Sir."  
  
"We're just giving our Jovian officers a tour of the ship," Jun explained.  
  
Gilad nodded. "Yes, Sir.  
  
"We didn't have a laundry on our last voyage," Megumi told him. "What are the rules?"  
  
Jun wandered toward a nearby doorway as the chief explained. "Simple enough, Ma'am. Just bring your laundry bag, clearly labeled, and any specific instructions. My boys won't ruin anything." He turned to glare at them. "They know better than that."  
  
"Can we move on, please?" Genechiro asked.  
  
Megumi frowned at him and turned back to Gilad. "Thank you, Sir."  
  
"'Chief,' Ma'am," he corrected. "I call your husband, 'Sir.'"  
  
She smiled. "Thank you, Chief." She turned to the group. "Well, I guess we should.... " She looked left to right. "Where's Jun?"  
  
"Ma'am, over here," one of the laundrymen beckoned.  
  
She walked over to him and stood at the door Jun had walked through. "What is this?" she asked.  
  
The laundryman shrugged. "Just a closet, Ma'am," he told her. "Is he okay?"  
  
Jun was standing in the center of the small storage room, stock still. The room was only five foot by five foot. As it was just a simple storeroom, the walls were bare steel.  
  
Megumi swallowed. "Do the lights work?" she asked.  
  
"No, Ma'am, we haven't...."  
  
Megumi didn't wait to hear the rest, she walked and stood next to her husband. "Jun chan," she whispered.  
  
He didn't turn to her. "Get me out of here, Megumi chan," he whispered.  
  
She bit her lip and touched his shoulder. "It'll be okay," she said quietly.  
  
"I'll be fine," he told her, still not facing her. "Just get me out of here."  
  
"Okay." She took his hand and gently pulled, guided, him out of the storeroom. As they reemerged, she told the others. "Perhaps Ryoko could finish the tour. Excuse us." Without another word, she took Jun out of the compartment.  
  
"That was weird," Makoto remarked. "Is the Kanchou claustrophobic?"  
  
Ryoko was silent for a moment. Then, as she walked toward the door, she said, "Only sometimes."  
  
Gilad watched them leave and breathed a sigh of relief. Leaning over, he picked up the item he had concealed with his foot. "If he they had seen this, we would have all been fucked," he told his men, waving it at them like a baton. "Any of you get that careless again and your career as a laundryman will be permanent. Clear?"  
  
"YES, SENIOR CHIEF!"  
  
"Okay, get to work," he growled. The laundrymen resumed moving supplies. Gilad looked down at the object in his hand.  
  
The first 7.62 millimeter round in the thirty-round clip stared woefully back up at him.  
  
****  
  
Lindbergh left long island in 1927  
  
He thumbed his nose at gravity  
  
And climbed into the heavens.  
  
When he returned to earth that night  
  
Everything had changed  
  
For the pilot and the planet  
  
Everything was rearranged  
  
We're a pretty mixed up bunch  
  
Of crazy human beings  
  
It's written on our rocketships  
  
And in early cave wall scenes  
  
How does it happen?  
  
How do we know?  
  
Who sits and watches?  
  
Who does the show?  
  
Some people love to lead  
  
Some refuse to dance  
  
Some play it safely  
  
Others take a chance  
  
Still, it's all a mystery  
  
This place we call the world  
  
Where most live as oysters  
  
While some become pearls  
  
Now Elvis was the only man  
  
From north east mississippi  
  
Who could shake his hips  
  
And still be loved by  
  
Rednecks, cops and hippies  
  
It's something more than dna  
  
That tells us who we are  
  
Its method and magic  
  
We are of the stars  
  
Some never fade away  
  
Some crash and burn  
  
Some make the world go round  
  
Others watch it turn  
  
Still, it's all a mystery,  
  
This place we call the world  
  
Most are fine as oysters  
  
While some become pearls  
  
Jimmy Buffett  
"Oysters and Pearls"  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Due to a deployment war-ward, updates on this fic are going to be slow. I might have an opportunity to work on it, but I have no idea when I'll be able to update again. Sorry. I'll try to work on it, but the job comes first. You all know how it is. 


	3. Changes in Latitude,Changes in Attitude

Disclaimer: Nadesico is not mine and I take no credit for it.

RURI: We stopped at Mars for gas and sandwiches like Mister Warren said, but also picked up some more bakas. With the countdown to the unknown ticking fast, we only have a little time to get ready. But how does a ship full of bakas get ready for something they have no idea how to be ready for?

Nadesico: Oysters and Pearls

Chapter 3

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

"Well?" Lieutenant Commander Hideki Amano asked, gesturing to the robot expectantly, "What do you think?"

"At least it's all the same color," Ryoko remarked. The Aestivalis sitting on the flight deck was dark green and looked heavily modified. "What kind of changes?"

"Well," Hideki began, "The major problem on this one was that its energy transfer module wasn't working right. So I swapped out one from an atmospheric flight model."

"But a flying model has different systems..." Ryoko began to argue.

"True!" Hideki told her. "That's where the modular transformation comes in." He took out a remote control and pressed a blue button.

Before her, the green Aesti seemed to hunch down. Doors on its back opened, and metallic wings unfolded from within. Two stabilizers emerged from the legs and moved back and forth in an automatic test. The wings were a substance Ryoko hadn't seen before.

"What are the wings made of?" she asked.

"A mercury-based smart metal," Hideki answered. "Basically it allows the metal to revert to liquid form, then change and harden again as a solid.

"That's amazing," Ryoko whispered. "It can fly in air and space."

He nodded quickly. "I also used some leftover titanium to reinforce the armor so it could withstand re-entry."

Ryoko patted the Aesti's leg. "Does it work?"

He gestured to the cockpit. "See for yourself."

QQQ

"So explain to me how this is going to work again," Jun asked tiredly as he circled the metallic chair in the center of the room. The chair was eerily reminiscent of a dentist's chair, only with metallic clamps for the arms and legs. It gave Jun the creeps just looking at it.

Inez placed a hand on the headrest and began. "It's rather simple, actually. When boson jumping first became a method of travel for the UE, it required a Mars-born human to direct it. That the jump itself could happen was never a doubt, but a Martian was needed to control it. We have since learned that the Jovians have come up with technology that allows people to control it more easily."

"The chair," Jun said, circling around it. The two of them were the only ones in the small, egg-shaped room. A lone computer sat nearby, unused, and a screen directly in front of the chair showed an image from outside the ship.

Inez nodded. "Boson energy is focused into this room, and the person sitting in that chair directs where the jump occurs. In most cases, that person can simply picture it, like Akito, Yurika and I picturing Mars. In this case, it'll be a little more complex."

"How so?"

"Picture Epsilon Eridani," she ordered suddenly.

Jun gave her a blank look. "I can't. I've never been there."

"Correct. Since we have little to go on, getting there is going to be difficult. The person in the chair is going to have to think of star charts, coordinates, telescopic images and HOPE that it's enough."

"And if it's not?"

"Ever hear of an ancient Earth TV show called 'Voyager?'"

"It's not going to be THAT bad, is it?" he asked, alarmed at the possibilities.

"Thankfully, no," Inez told him with a smile. Jun sighed in relief. "Since I'll be the one in the chair..." She turned to him and offered another smile. "You have nothing to worry about."

QQQ

The door opened, and Megumi looked up, removing her reading glasses. A very exhausted-looking Jun entered and collapsed face first on the bed. Standing up, she walked over to the bed and sat down next to him.

"Long day?" she asked.

"Mmm hmm," he answered through the pillow.

She sighed and began to rub his shoulders.

"Remind me why I agreed to this again?" he asked.

"Because," she said quietly, "It's a chance to go where no one has ever gone."

"Right, right..."

She sighed again. "Jun...about the other day...I know you don't like talking about it, but maybe if you did..."

Her voice trailed off, and he lay quietly. "Some wounds don't completely heal, Megumi chan," he whispered. "If it weren't for you...this one wouldn't have healed at all."

"Jun chan, talk to me," she begged quietly.

"What am I supposed to say, Megumi chan?" he asked tiredly. "That sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night because I could swear I can hear them coming to take me away for another session?"

"If that's what's happening, yes," she replied painfully. She hated seeing him like this. Hated what they had done to him.

"Well I do," he whispered. He rolled over and looked up at her. "But then I remember that it's not real and I go back to bed. It's all I can do, Megumi chan."

She leaned down and kissed him. "You want something to eat?" she asked with a slight smile.

He shook his head. "I'm going to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Good night, Jun chan. Lights."

The lights in their room dimmed, and darkness surrounded Captain Jun Aoi...

QQQQ

Captain Jun Aoi's eyes opened and found the alarm clock next to the bed. It was going to go off in two minutes. He hated when that happened. He could either get up or close his eyes and try to squeeze what rest he could into those two minutes.

Sighing, he got up.

He walked to the closet and found a fresh uniform. Laying it on the couch, he undressed and stepped into the shower.

It was going to be a long day.

QQQQ

Megumi yawned and opened her eyes to find her husband in the final stages of dressing. "Today's the big day," she remarked sleepily.

"Yep," he said.

"How do you think the crew is handling it?" she asked, sitting up in bed.

Jun finished fixing the last button on his collar. "I imagine they're scared out of their minds," he told her with a smile. "What about you?"

"It's..." she began, searching for words. "Different," she finally finished.

"I'm going to give every member of the crew ten minutes on the transmitter today," he warned her. "I don't want anyone going on this adventure without a chance to say goodbye to a loved one."

"That's awfully cryptic, Jun," Megumi said quietly. "Are you okay?"

He offered her a smile. "Megu chan," he said. "It's going to be a great year."

QQQQ

"This year is going to blow," Ryoko breathed as she made a final adjustment to her report. Although Hideki's alterations to the Aestivalis had proven workable, she still wasn't convinced it was the best thing to do.

She heard the lift door open behind her and someone step into it with her. Turning, she ended up eye to eye with Rikari.

The two nodded at each other. "Colonel," they both greeted before resuming the uneasy silence.

Ryoko still had an off feeling about Rikari, and the last time she had tried to express it, the bridge crew had laughed at her. Except for Jun, who had a slightly more cynical view on things than he did when the war first broke out. Perhaps it was time for a little impromptu investigating.

The teal-haired woman discreetly undid the top button of her uniform and turned to the squadron commander. "So, the big day, huh?" she asked.

Rikari smiled but didn't seem too excited. "Yeah. A year in the unknown."

"Must be hard for some people," Ryoko remarked. "Leaving wives and girlfriends behind."

"I suppose so," Rikari replied noncommittally.

"What about you?" Ryoko asked. "Wife back home? Kids?"

Rikari shook her head. "Nope."

"Huh," the Aestivalis pilot replied. "This assignment must be a sweet deal for you then," she went on. "I think it's the only ship in the fleet where single women outnumber single men."

Rikari gave her a suspicious look. "I...suppose...some people could see it that way."

Ding!

The lift door opened.

"This is my deck," Rikari told her.

Ryoko nodded. "See you around, Colonel," she said, plying the statement with a little innuendo and wink.

Rikari stepped off the elevator and watched the doors close. She took a deep breath.

"Goddammit."

QQQQ

Genechiro Tsukuomi looked at the control boards on the bridge and frowned. A good portion of the data on the screen in front of him was superfluous, the kind usually filtered through robots before ever getting to a ship commander. Earthers were sloppy.

"Lieutenant Hoshino," he began, turning to Ruri. "What is our present status?" His hands were behind his back and his nose turned upward. He had always been taught the pose looked regal and inspired subordinates.

Ruri hardly looked inspired.

"Course two-seven-zero mark zero-one-five," she remarked, not looking up from her video game. "Standard speed. All ship's systems are functional. ETA to launch point, fifteen minutes."

"Good," Tsukuomi congratulated her. "Mister Warren, increase to two-thirds."

"All ahead two-thirds aye," Chase repeated dully.

"Lieutenant Hoshino, what is our new ETA?"

"Ten minutes, Sir."

Tsukuomi did some calculations in his head. "An increase should have halved our ETA. Mister Warren, are you sure we're at two-thirds?"

Chase looked at the man currently sitting in Megumi's chair and gave him a "what the fuck?" look.

"Mister Warren!"

"Yes, Sir, we are at two-thirds."

Tsukuomi snorted. "I'll have to have Engineering look into that."

At that point, the lift door opened, and Jun and Megumi stepped onto the bridge. "Good morning, everyone," Jun greeted.

"'Morn'n, Skipper," Chase replied as Megumi took the comm seat next to him.

Tsukuomi saluted Jun slowly. "Captain," he began. "We are on course. Preparations for the jump to Epsilon Eridani are on schedule."

"Good," Jun replied. He nodded to Tsukuomi for a moment, then asked, "Commander, can I see you in my office? I want to have one last sit down before we leave."

Tsukuomi nodded and followed Jun to the lift. The doors closed behind them.

"Asshole," Chase muttered.

QQQQ

"Have a seat, Commander. I never asked, is it okay to call you Genechiro?" Jun asked as he sat behind his desk.

"I'd prefer you didn't... Sir," Tsukuomi replied.

"Ah, okay." Jun folded his hands in front of him and searched for a way to begin. "Commander, I get the impression this isn't the career path you would have wanted."

"I have my orders... Sir," Tsukuomi told him.

"Yes, but if you're not going to be happy on this mission..."

"It's not about being happy, Sir. It's about following orders, and I'll follow mine," he seethed.

Jun nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Commander. Dismissed."

Tsukuomi stood up and huffed out the door.

"That one's going to be trouble," Jun remarked after he had left.

QQQQ

Jun was back on the bridge just as Megumi was turning to look for him. "Kanchou, Erina's on the line." Her voice was tinged with a bit of distaste as if she had just bit into a rotten apple.

"Let's see her," Jun ordered. A vid panel appeared at the front of the bridge.

Erina appeared absolutely tickled today. "Jun, I just wanted to call and make sure you had everything you needed for today."

"We're ready, Erina," Jun told her. "Don't suppose there's anything you want to tell US before we go?" he hinted.

She shook her head. "Nope. Make us proud, Jun. Be safe." With that, she waved and was off the screen again.

Megumi shook her head. "That woman..."

"Kanchou, it's time," Ruri interrupted.

Jun paused and looked at the clock. So it was. All eyes on the bridge were turned to him. He thought for a moment, then nodded to Megumi.

"One MC," he ordered.

Megumi's fingers danced over the comm board, and a moment later Jun's face was all over the ship.

"This is the captain," Jun began. "In a few moments, this ship and everyone onboard will take mankind's first step to another solar system."

QQQQ

On the flight deck, Izumi smushed her cigarette against a bulkhead and leaned against it to listen to Jun's speech. It was obvious that he was really into this.

"I say it's mankind's first step because Earth and her colonies are not the only ones going, but our friends, the Jovians, are joining us. For the first time in our history, we will join together and step out into the galaxy."

She searched her soul for that same enthusiasm, but couldn't find it. To her, Epsilon Eridani was just as good as hiding anywhere else...like Cuba.

Izumi pulled out another cigarette and her lighter...

QQQQ

In the galley, Houmei and her staff watched the speech with interest.

"Most of you were on this ship when it first launched, during its first battle," Jun continued. "It was a ship designed for one purpose: to win a war others thought already lost."

Houmei frowned. She wasn't sure it was the best idea to phrase it like that with so many Jovians aboard.

"But like the rest of us since the war's end, it has found a new, peaceful calling. And it is my honor to serve aboard her again and with all of you."

She smiled.

QQQQ

Inez strapped herself into her chair as Jun's voice, so full of hope and optimism, surrounded her. She felt a pang of guilt and suppressed it, tightening the straps around her ankles.

"Whatever your reason for coming along," she heard him say, "We all appreciate the hard work and sacrifices we'll all be called on to make."

Inez looked up as Aurora helped her strap her arms down. She gave her student a smile and saw her smile back.

QQQQ

Megumi smiled at her husband as his speech wound down.

"Let's make sure history never forgets the name, 'Nadesico," he finished. He gave Megumi a silent nod, and the screens disappeared. "Ruri chan, let's go find a better tennis shoe."

Ruri cracked a smile as she ran through the final checks. "Moving to condition three," she said. "All sections report in."

Jun looked down at Megumi and gave her an excited smile. She couldn't help but return it. He was living his dream, and she was there with him. As long as she could say that every day, she knew things would be all right.

Ruri turned to Jun. "Dr. Franssenge says she ready."

Jun sat on the command bench and took a breath. "Let's go."

The girl's hands glowed against the keyboard. "Feeding all data on Epsilon Eridani into Dr. Franssenge's neural system."

Jun took a deep breath.

"TC release in five..."

Megumi swallowed.

"Four..."

Tsukuomi sighed.

"Three..."

Inez closed her eyes.

"Two..."

"I'm going where the weather suits my clothes!" Chase screamed.

"One! TC release!"

Outside the Nadesico, TC crystal compartments opened, spraying thousands of the tiny black diamonds into the distortion field. The field crackled as a response, and lightning danced along the edge of the ship. It was as if the ship were suddenly in the center of a thunderhead, surrounded by fire and ice all at the same time.

The ship disappeared.

QQQQ

Ryoko didn't know if it was different because of the power involved or the distance, but it was the weirdest experience of her life. She would often try to describe it later, but the best she could do was say,

"It was like the ship and everyone in it were squeezed into a baseball, then batted across the universe by some heavy hitter. It was like brushing up against everyone at once, but in your head."

And suddenly, the ball was in the outfield, bouncing to a halt.

QQQQ

Aurora watched as Inez, sitting in the jump chair with her eyes closed, began to glow a bright white. The light seemed to come from within her and went through everything around her, including the young student. It culminated in a bright flash.

The student turned away with a squeak, covering her eyes. Then, she, like everyone else on the ship, blacked out.

QQQQ

Jun opened his eyes and blinked at the ceiling. Rolling onto his hands and knees, he stood up and rushed to Megumi's chair, where the young woman was slouched forward unconscious.

"Megumi chan?" he whispered, shaking her shoulder.

"Hmmm?" she replied sleepily, sitting up. "What?"

Below them, the rest of the bridge crew was waking up.

"They ain't paying us enough for this," Chase complained, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

The only one who appeared fully awake was Ruri, and Jun couldn't tell if it was because she had remained awake during the trip or if she was just quick at recovering. Her hands were dancing across the keyboard.

They hadn't expected unconsciousness. And if that had hit them, there was no way of telling what else had.

"Sound general quarters," he ordered.

The klaxon went off as Megumi announced battlestations over the intercom. Jun walked down to the pit where Ruri was still compiling data.

"Ruri chan?" he asked.

"It was a rougher trip than we thought it would be, Kanchou," she declared. "Propulsion is off-line. So's the trans-light transmitter Aurora san was going on about." She bit her lip. "And so is the distortion field."

"What's our position?" he asked.

From in front him, Chase replied. "Not fucking Kansas, I can tell you that."

Jun turned to ask him what he meant when he saw it. Chase was staring at the viewscreen...

At twin suns.

"Kami sama," Megumi whispered.

"Ruri," Jun whispered, unable to tear his gaze away. "Confirm our position. Is this Epsilon Eridani?"

The young girl snorted. "I can't confirm it, Kanchou. Navigation is offline. But Epsilon Eridani IS a binary system."

"WOOOOOOOOOOO!" Chase screamed.

The bridge exploded in cheers and back-slapping. Everyone was congratulating everyone else.

Jun put a stop to it. "Quiet! We still have a situation here!" He turned to Megumi. "Megu chan, get Ryoko up here, then put me on the One MC. Ruri, I want a complete damage and status report from every section, including casualties. Mister Warren, dead stop."

The crew set to work.

"Jun chan, One MC," Megumi told him.

Jun took a breath. "Crew of the Nadesico, this is the captain. Those of you near a window may have noticed that we are no longer in our star system. We are still trying to ascertain that this is, in fact, Epsilon Eridani, but we've suffered damage to several systems. Please remain calm, listen to your section chiefs and do what you can to get this ship mission ready again. That is all."

As he was finishing, Ryoko was walking onto the bridge. "What's up, Jun?" She leaned over the guardrail.

"Ryoko, we're dead in the water and blind as a bat. Long range scanners and LIDAR are off-line. I want you to launch the Alert Five and send up a Rivet Jack and an SWACS to help us get a better picture of what's going on out there." She nodded along with him. "And while you're at it, get a couple of Gekigangars ready to back up the alert birds."

"You got it!" Ryoko told him, then rushed off the bridge.

Jun turned back to Ruri's screen when he heard Megumi call him. He walked over to her station and leaned over to hear her.

"Jun chan," she whispered. "Is it a good idea to send out fighters? This is supposed to be an exploration vessel," she reminded him.

"We still have to look out for Indians," he said quietly.

AAAA

Izumi performed the last few cockpit checks and looked to her right. She gave the deck officer a thumbs up and a salute, then braced herself. A second later, the magnetic catapult launched her off the flight deck and into space.

"House, Alert One," she said into her mic. "Good shot."

Her scanner changed as three more signals joined hers. Her wingman, an SWACS alert and control spacecraft and an RC-55 Rivet Jack signals intelligence spacecraft were moving to join her. The SWACS, Cat's Eye, would use its powerful sensors to act as the Nadesico's LIDAR and coordinate action between the spacecraft. The Rivet Jack, Snoop One, was a listener, equipped with receivers capable of deciphering thousands of different types of radio and light signals.

From outside, Izumi could see the damage wrought by the Nadesico's journey across light years. Lights were out almost every other deck, and the ship was listing slightly. She knew the distortion field was down. If there were hostile natives in this solar system, the Nadesico was in trouble.

She clicked her bone mic. "Cat's Eye, Alert One," she announced. "Take up position angels ten and hold there. Snoop One will go devils ten and circle."

"Roger," she heard from the SWACS.

"Roger, Raven," the Rivet Jack replied, addressing Izumi by her callsign. She knew the pilot of the Rivet Jack and didn't envy her. The Rivet Jack was basically a refitted cargo ship. Unarmed and slow, it took a great deal of nerve to fly to the very edge of enemy space and listen for communications between the enemy forces.

The two larger ships split off, one going ten thousand feet above the ecliptic, the other ten thousand feet below. Izumi clicked her mic again.

"Alert Two, Alert One. Let's start our sweep. House, Alert One."

Megumi's image appeared before her. "Go ahead, Alert One."

"The cards are dealt," Izumi said. "Razor and I are starting our patrol."

"Roger that. Good hunting."

Izumi signed off and turned her attention outside. It was time to see what this solar system had to throw at them.

AAA

Genechiro walked up to Jun and spread out a chart of Nadesico's systems on the table between them. "Here's the situation, Sir," he began curtly. "Power is off every other deck. Minor injuries are being reported, but so far nothing serious."

Jun breathed a sigh of relief.

"The propulsion systems, it looks like, aren't damaged," Genechiro said. "It looks like they were shut down and kept cold. The chief engineer..." He made the title a curse. "Says it looks like they've been offline for years. He's going to do a check then restart them."

Jun nodded. "What about..."

Aurora's face suddenly appeared between them. "Kanchou! I..."

"Can this wait, Aurora?" Jun asked. "We kind of have a situation here."

"Um, Kanchou? It's very very important!"

Jun smiled. "Okay, Aurora, what is it?"

"Inez is missing!"

AAA

The grasshopper sniffed the deck with its electronic snout again, then whimpered pitifully.

Hideki shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kanchou. But if Fluffy says she didn't go out this door, then she didn't."

Jun, Hideki, Aurora and Genechiro were assembled in Inez's lab. The chair, the last place Jun had seen her, stood empty in the center of the room.

"Maybe your grasshopper has something wrong in the head," Genechiro suggested frostily.

Hideki shook his head vehemently. "Fluffy is equipped to detect and identify scent molecules. She did not go through here."

Jun turned to Aurora. "Tell me again."

Aurora took a deep breath. "I was monitoring her vital signs while the jump was happening. I blacked out, and when I woke up, she was gone."

"This isn't good," Jun muttered. "Deck by deck search," he ordered. I want every nook and cranny of this ship checked. It's possible she reappeared somewhere else on the ship and is injured."

Genechiro rushed off to coordinate the search. Jun turned to the chief engineer. "Thank you, Hideki. I'm sorry I took you away from the engine room."

"Sorry Fluffy and I couldn't be more help," the bald man said apologetically.

"It's okay. It's not your fault." He ran his hand through his hair and turned to Aurora. "Aurora, do you know how to use this thing?"

"Me!" the student squeaked. "Well, no, of course not! This is Dr. Franssenge's masterpiece! I wouldn't know where to begin!"

The captain sighed. "Aurora, until we find Inez I need you to act as my scientific advisor, okay?" He waited for the girl to nod. "Now I want you to go to Inez's quarters and start going through her notes about this thing. If we can't find her, you're going to be our one chance of getting home again."

Aurora squeaked again.

He put his hand on her shoulder and spoke gently. "You're the explanation lady now."

AAA

Megumi's face appeared in front of him as he was heading back to the bridge. "Jun chan! Come quick!" It disappeared again.

Jun rushed to the lift and mumbled the whole way up, urging it to go faster. After what seemed to be an eternity, the doors opened again, and Jun leapt onto the bridge.

"Status!" he demanded.

Megumi turned to him, her hand on her earpiece. "The SWACS has something."

Jun was shocked. So soon? So soon after coming to this solar system, they had made contact. He shook himself mentally and got a grip. He put an earpiece in.

"Cat's Eye, this is Nadesico Actual, what've you got?" he said excitedly.

"Three shallow sensor contacts," he heard. "Six hundred miles, bearing zero-nine-zero your position, angels three. One heavy, two light. Should we move closer?"

"Negative," Jun said despite his fierce desire to learn more. The SWACS, like the Rivet Jack, was unarmed and clumsy. "Keep scanning, report back any change."

"Roger."

Jun put the earpiece down and faced his wife. "Get Izumi over there for a look. Tell her to avoid detection, but I want a visual."

Megumi nodded and switched frequencies. "Alert One, House," she said. "Investigate unknown sensor contact vector zero-nine-zero. Bogies flying low and slow, your signal is 'buster.' Repeat, your signal is 'buster.'"

AAAA

Izumi digested the new information and veered right, kicking in the afterburner for a few seconds to build up extra speed.

"Roger, House. Bets are on the table." She switched frequencies. "Razor, stick close and watch your trigger finger."

"Yokai."

AAA

Genechiro found Jun on the bridge again. "Amano said he's close to restarting the engines. He needs another hour."

"What about the other systems?" Jun asked.

"Some will come back on with the engines, but he said the distortion field might need more work."

Jun nodded. "Whatever or whoever he needs to speed that along, give it to him. The only exception is security forces. I want them looking for Inez."

Genechiro nodded and walked to the comm center to relay the orders.

"Jun chan!"

He turned back to Megumi.

"The Aestis are over the contact."

He quickly put his earpiece back in. "Alert One, this is Nadesico Actual. What's your status?"

"Two small ships," he heard Izumi say. "Fighters by the look of them."

"Any idea how advanced?" he asked.

"I'd say primitive if I had to venture a guess. I'm not even sure they have radar or lidar. We're in the sun at their six o'clock, I don't think they're even aware we're here."

"What about the third contact?"

"Coming up on that now. The fighters are flying by it." There was a pause. "It's weird, Kanchou."

Jun nodded to himself. The fact that Izumi wasn't making a sad pun was a reminder of just how much she had changed, and how serious her statement must be.

"It looks like a big piece of crystal, pinkish." Another pause. "It's hard to make out engines or other structures."

"Not like the fighters, though?" he asked.

"Negative," Izumi replied immediately. "There's no way they're related."

"All right. Stay on..."

"HOLY SHIT!"

"Izumi! What is it! Alert One, respond!" Jun called into comm. The rest of the bridge crew looked up fearfully as they heard his tone.

"House, Alert One!" Izumi called back. "The fighters just strafed the crystal ship!"

AAA

"Raven! Raven, what should we do!"

Izumi quickly switched frequencies. "Razor, stay cool," she said said quietly. The fighters banked around again and opened fire, launching missiles at the crystal ship. The rockets struck the ship along its left side, leaving black, pock-marked holes in the smooth crystal.

Izumi switched frequencies again. "House, Alert One," she began gravely. "Request permission to engage."

"Negative, Alert One," Jun's voice came back.

AAA

"Do not fire unless fired upon," Jun continued.

"Jun chan," Megumi whispered.

The captain didn't look at her. "I didn't come twenty light years to start another war with people we've never met," he whispered back.

She bit her lip and looked down at her terminal.

AAA

"Raven?" she heard Razor's voice question. 1st Lt. Ronnie "Razor" Razetti came in after the war, and she knew he was inexperienced. It was her call.

"Stand fast, Razor," she told him.

The crystal ship blew up, sending pieces of crystal through the sky like razor-sharp snowflakes.

"House, Alert One," she said deadpan. "Bogey Three destroyed."

She could almost see Jun's pause on the other end. She didn't envy him. "Survivors?"

"Hold one," she replied. She ran a quick scan and to her surprise, found something. "Roger!" she exclaimed. "One May West." Her scan showed something else. "Jun, they're coming about. They're gonna strafe it in space." She licked her lips. "Request permission to..."

"Negative," Jun cut her off.

She slammed her palm into the IFS interface. "Jun, they are going to strafe a LIFEPOD!"

"Izumi, do not fire unless fired upon."

AAA

"Jun chan, come on," Megumi begged.

"We don't know the first thing about them," Jun told her.

"Kanchou," Ruri broke in. "I would point out that attacking a lifepod is considered an act of piracy, not war."

"We're not here to get involved with the internal politics of aliens," Genechiro said.

AAA

Izumi slapped the interface again. "Fuck this," she hissed. "Razor, you're with me."

"What are we gonna do?"

"We're going to draw them away."

"Raven, the captain said not to engage."

"He said don't fire," she corrected him. She adjusted her harness. "Just keep your weapons safe. So far I haven't seen anything to make me believe they're faster or more maneuverable."

She nudged her Aesti forward into the fray.

AAA

"Goddammit, Izumi," Jun hissed.

"What do you want to do?" Megumi asked quietly.

Jun shook his head. "Have the SWACS coordinate for them. The least we can do is give them a shot."

AAA

A shadow grew over the lead alien fighter until it enveloped the cockpit, forcing the pilot to look up...

Right into the eyes of a giant robot.

Izumi could see the panic through the pilot's visored helmet. The alien rolled left and dove away, and Izumi went right after him. She watched the afterburners on the alien ship light up, but had no problem keeping up with him. Her assessment of their ships was correct, it seemed. They were much more primitive than the Aestivalis.

The chase was on.

AAA

Gilad saw the two security forces members come through the door and gave a quick hand signal to Doc.

The other laundryman nodded and went into the back. The security police strode up to him.

"We're searching for a missing crewman," the higher ranking one, a technical sergeant by his stripes, said.

"Haven't seen anyone," the chief said with a shrug.

"We need to check."

Gilad shrugged. "Knock yourself out."

The guards started checking rooms. When they came to the back storeroom, they stopped.

"What's in these crates?" the tech sergeant asked.

"Industrial strength cleaners," Gilad explained.

The sergeant nodded. "We're gonna have to open them up," he announced.

The older sailor paused. "There's nothing in them but ammonia tri-sulphide," he lied. "Highly toxic in its pure form."

"We still need to see it."

Through the corner of his eye, Gilad could see Doc slowly draw a combat tanto. He took a breath. "Fine," he said. "Doc, go get us some gas masks."

"Gas masks?" the second security guard asked.

"Yeah," the chief said. "Like I said, this stuff is toxic." He turned back to Doc. "And try to get some better masks then the one you gave Luke, okay? He's still in sickbay coughing up pieces of lung."

The second guard looked absolutely panicked now. "Come on, Sarge," he said quietly. "We really need to check there? I mean, if she were in there, she'd be dead, right?"

The sergeant nodded. "Okay." He nodded to Gilad. "Thanks, Chief. We're not going to need those masks."

Gilad saw Doc silently put his knife away.

"Hope you find that crewman," the chief told them.

The security guards left. Gilad let out a breath. He kicked the crate of weapons. "Stow that somewhere out of sight," he ordered.

AAA

Izumi threw her Aesti into a steep climb after the alien ship. So far the gambit was working. The alien ships couldn't break away to attack the lifepod as long as they believed they were a second away from being shot down, and as long as Izumi and Razor stayed behind them, they couldn't get a shot off at them.

As primitive as the fighters were, the pilots were exceptional. Izumi was impressed and rather glad they weren't on more even technological footing.

All in all, it was going very well.

AAA

Megumi handed Genechiro a print-out. "Report from the SWACS," she said quickly.

Genechiro read it. "Two-two-zero." He checked the chart. "Great," he muttered. Walking quickly to Jun at the command station, he handed it to him. "Your pilot is chasing them right toward us," he said accusingly. "And we're still a sitting duck."

Jun sighed. "Dammit." He led Genechiro to Megumi's station and put on his earpiece. "Alert One, Nadesico Actual," he said. "Splash the bogies. I say again, splash the bogies."

"Yes, Sir!" Izumi replied.

AAA

Izumi throttled back to give the alien more distance and switched her weapons to "armed." She followed the alien through another roll and lined up the reticule.

Smooth as silk, she fired. Twenty millimeter depleted uranium slugs tore through the alien ship, ripping through the fighter's armor like tissue paper. The ship broke up, and a small explosion in the cockpit signaled an ejection.

She turned away and went to back up Razor, but quickly found that she didn't need to. The young man's Aestivalis was lined up behind the other ship. A quick flash, and Izumi saw the Starsparrow missile fly toward the target. The explosion sent pieces of alien ship everywhere.

Izumi clicked on the comm. "House, Alert One," she said. "Splash two. Repeat, splash two." She saw the ejected alien appear as a blip on her scope. "One survivor in the water."

"Roger."

AAA

Jun listened to Megumi's report and sighed again. "Not the way I wanted to make first contact, but I guess it'll have to do. Get me Ryoko."

Ryoko's face was in front of him a second later. "Whatcha need, Jun?" she asked.

"We have survivors out there, Ryoko. I need two Starhawks to go get them and some security for them."

"Well, the Starhawks check out, but Chief Aragon is in sickbay. Cracked his head during the trip, so we're a pilot light."

Chase turned to face Jun. "Sir, I did my first four in search and rescue."

"You can fly a Starhawk?" Jun asked for clarification.

"No sweat, Sir."

Jun gave him a nod, and Chase started for the lift. "Mister Warren is heading to the flight deck."

Ryoko nodded. "I'll have a couple of Gekigangars go out with them."

The wing commander's face disappeared, and Jun turned to Genechiro. "Commander, take command of this mission."

The XO stalked off the bridge. For the first time since they've arrived in this solar system, Jun relaxed for a minute.

"I wonder why they were fighting," Megumi mused.

"Oh! Oh! Wait! That's my cue, right!" they heard. All eyes on the bridge turned as Aurora ran to the front of the bridge carrying a bunch of charts and graphs. She took a moment to set up, pausing a moment later to make sure the charts were standing up on their own. The largest chart had the heading, "Potato crop yield in Idaho."

"Okay!" she started again, turning to them and clearing her throat. "Here...is MY theory!" She paused for effect. "They don't like each other!"

"Baka."

"I think you need a little more practice at this," Megumi said sympathetically.

AAA

Chase strapped himself into the left seat of the Starhawk landing craft and buckled in. Hearing the snap of the buckle, he put on his flight helmet, the word "Banjo" emblazoned on the front. As he was starting the engines, someone put themselves in the co-pilot's chair. Looking up, he nodded at him.

"Colonel. You com'n?"

Rikari nodded and put on a helmet of her own. "Probably not a bad idea to get checked out on one of these."

"No IFS in this bird," he said with a smile. The whine of the engines was getting louder. He placed his hand on the flight stick and made a couple of quick checks. "Let's see if Megumi's listening," he muttered, placing a small data crystal in the comm port. Smiling, he turned the volume up as high as it would go. "Good morning, Lieutenant Aoi!"

"EVERYBODY JUST BOUNCE!"

AAA

Megumi cried out and tossed her earpiece against the comm panel. "ASSHOLE!" she screamed at him through the music.

AAA

Rikari arched an eyebrow as Chase bounced his head to the more... unorthodox lyrics... coming from the comm system. The warrant officer didn't seem to mind. He was too busy taxiing onto the launch pad.

"I open doors takin pours doin tours then i come again,  
run'll be runnin up in the sukas I be runnin dem feindish, dj run'll be  
comin and gettin feindish, I tap your back and my it serves a mean dish 

I've got my mike in my hand and my plan to come,  
official dj rapper known as dj run,  
all of ya sucka rappers well you dissed my son,  
I went behind the insta freeze I froze ya numb,"

Out the window, Rikari saw four of her Gekigangars lift off the deck, turn to the right as one and disappear in a boson jump.

Chase bounced his head and gave the deck officer a salute and a thumbs up.

"...and if you find of the dime that I left behind,  
I come fast with my cash, I must rewind..."

Rikari was knocked to the back of her seat as the Starhawk leapt into space. A Gekigangar appeared on either side of their ship and took up covering formations.

"What IS that, anyway?" the colonel asked.

"Colonel," Chase began, "It is my opinion that musical evolution stopped in 2002. What you are listening to is musical genius."

"Right."

Chase continued to bounce.

AAA

Jun turned as Ryoko entered the bridge. He gave her a crooked finger, and she approached. He led her to a secluded part of the bridge and whispered to her.

"Izumi just did a very noble thing," he told her. "What she should have done is stay put. Have you been monitoring this?"

Ryoko nodded. "I'll handle it."

AAA

"That you, Banjo?"

"Put up your cards and your backgammon boards," Chase gave the old speech. "Lucky Banjo's back."

"Whatever," he heard the other Starhawk pilot say. "We're going for the lifepod. Think you can remember how to recover a pilot?"

"I'll wing it," he said.

The other Starhawk split off from his, taking two Gekigangars with it. Chase eased the aging drop ship toward the smoke plume that indicated the downed fighter.

"You see the pilot, Colonel?" he asked Rikari.

The Jovian shook her head. "No, I... Wait. Over there, three o'clock." She pointed out her window.

The helmsman nodded. "That's him, alright."

Chase pulled back a set of yellow handles, opening the ventral doors.

"How is this supposed to work?" Rikari asked.

"Pretty simple," Chase told her, hitting some switches on his panel. "Gravity being the way it is, the pilot is pretty much unable to assist in his own rescue, therefore we just put the ship on top of him and give it a little nudge with our dorsal thrusters."

Chase watched the heads up display and used the instruments to guide the dropship over the ejected pilot. Once he was sure the pilot was near the doors, he tapped the dorsal thruster. The Starhawk moved downward slowly.

"And...there," he said, pushing the handles back. He hit a few more switches. "The bay is pressurized...woah!"

His last word came as Rikari drew her service revolver.

"Really think you're gonna need that, Tex?" he asked, half-joking.

"It shot at our pilots," she told him deadpan.

"HE or SHE," he corrected, "Is probably collapsed on the deck, recovering from space sickness." He hit the auto-pilot and climbed out of his seat. "Come on, he might need medical attention."

Rikari shook her head. Only an Earther would have thought to include "she" into Chase's phrase. She stood to follow him.

The helmsman reached the hatch and hit the button to cycle it open.

An eight-foot werewolf met him there.

"What the..."

The creature howled and reached for him.

AAA

"Raven, slightly left," Izumi heard in her ear. She automatically adjusted, lining up her Aesti with the running lights on the Nadesico's flight deck. "Power...Power..." She throttled up slightly. "You're on the money."

She lurched forward slightly as the ship's magnetic net snagged her and drew her into the ship's hangar deck. Ritualistically, she began to shut down the robot's systems. Just before she cut the main power, Ryoko's face appeared before her.

"Colonel, I want to talk to you," she said simply, then disappeared.

Izumi frowned. She'd had a feeling this was coming. As her robot was moved into its cradle, she popped the canopy open and removed her helmet, tossing it to the technician on the catwalk next to the Aesti's head.

As she climbed out, another tech scurried up to her Aestivalis, a decal of a grey, large-eyed alien's head in his hand. He moved to the area just below her cockpit, next to the several small Gekigangar heads.

"Hey!" she cried to him. The tech looked up. "Don't you dare," she told him. The sheepish tech nodded and hurried away.

She shook her head. The squadron commander knew she was in enough trouble without causing Jun diplomatic trouble with a people they didn't even know.

Razor met her on the way to Ryoko's office.

"Raven?" he began. "Ma'am?"

She sighed. "Razor, go file your after action report," she told him. "This isn't about you."

"But, I mean," he stuttered. "Did we do right?"

Izumi stopped outside Ryoko's office. "Yeah," she told him. "We did right." With that, she stepped inside.

Razor watched through the office window as Izumi saluted Ryoko, and the teal-haired woman began to lay into her. The office was sound-proofed, but the young man knew it was 90 plus decibels in there.

"Don't worry, kid," one of the older pilots told him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "She probably had that one coming."

"Yeah, but..." Razor replied, stuttering again. "You should've seen it."

"Kid, take some free advice," the older pilot went on. "Don't feel sorry for Colonel Maki. She deserves whatever she gets."

"Whaddya mean by that?" the young pilot asked indignantly.

"Come on, kid," the other pilot continued. "They don't call her the Coward of the Belt for nothing."

AAA

Chase felt someone grab the back of his collar and yank. The next thing he knew, he was on his butt staring up at a nightmare. The werewolf growled down at him. Its fur was grey and scraggly, unwashed. It wore a grey flight suit with hoses protruding from different parts of the body.

The helmsman couldn't move. The creature reached for him when Chase heard Rikari's voice over him.

"BACK!"

The werewolf looked up and found Rikari's service revolver pointed at him. It growled. The Jovian pulled the hammer back, causing a sharp click to reverberate throughout the cabin.

The creature paused.

"Yes, you know that sound, don't you?" Rikari whispered. She waved the gun at the cabin from which the creature stepped. "Back in the cargo area," she said with another wave.

The wolf growled and reluctantly stepped back.

"Good boy," Rikari said, slapping the close switch. The door sealed shut. "How do you lock this thing?" she asked Chase.

"Yellow button," Chase breathlessly told her. "Hey," he added. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," she told him, heading back to the cockpit. "Tex."

AAA

Hideki's face appeared before him, and Jun looked up from the grid map he was studying.

"Boss, the Distortion Field is back online, and the engines are up and running."

"Good work, Hideki," Jun said with the first real smile he had shown in hours. "What about long range communications? Any good news there?"

The bald engineer could only shake his head. "The long range antennae is fried. If Inez were here, we might be able to jerry-rig something, but there's stuff in there I wouldn't know where to begin with."

Jun sighed, but kept his smile up. "Well, maybe Aurora will have more luck. Right now, get the rest of the primary systems up and running."

"You got it, Boss."

"Jun?"

He turned and found Megumi with her hand on her earpiece. "The Starhawks are landing," she said. "They have... passengers."

Jun stared at her for a moment as the full weight of her statement kicked in. Aliens... aboard his ship... The sheer history of it was kicking at the doors of his mind.

It must have had the same effect on the others, because the bridge was silent now. "Tell them," Jun said quietly, "I'm on my way." He stood up and walked deliberately to the lift, afraid that if he let his guard down, he'd launch himself into a gleeful run in front of the bridge crew.

As the bridge doors shut, it took him a moment to realize that Megumi had followed him. For a moment, he thought she had come for the same reason he had, and it took him a second to recognize her "worried face."

"Meg chan?" he began.

"Jun," she began quietly, "Call the fighters back."

He blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Don't you see, Jun?" she asked quietly. "All you could talk about before the jump was how this was a peaceful mission, and ever since we got here, you've treated it like a military campaign!" She stepped forward and put her hands on his chest. "We've only been here a couple of hours, and we've already killed one alien, captured another..."

"And saved another's life," he finished for her, irritation in his voice. "Meg chan, I didn't want it like this!"

"I know," she said, trying to head off an argument. "But this isn't our home, and we have no idea what things are like here." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "How do we know we did the right thing?"

"I guess we don't," he told her solemnly. "But you were on Izumi's side up there, remember?" he asked her. "You wanted me to stop them from strafing that lifepod too, remember? Well we all have to live with that now. And unfortunately, it could mean we pissed off the wrong race of aliens. But we're not going to know until we meet them."

At that moment, the lift door opened, and Jun stepped out, leaving Megumi there to wonder again if she had done the right thing by encouraging her husband to come out here.

AAA

The two Starhawks had landed side by side on the flight deck. Jun approached as Chase and Makoto were hopping out of the side hatch and onto the deck. As Chase removed his helmet, he gave the captain a short nod.

"Well, we got him here, but I ain't goi'n back in there without some security forces guys. Motherfucker's big!" He quickly cleared his throat. "Pardon my French, sir."

Jun ignored it. "Um... So what is it?"

"Big," Chase answered before starting for the pilot's ready room. Makoto stayed behind.

"It's an eight foot creature, Sir," she told him. "Of the canine variety."

"Are you telling me we shot down an eight foot golden retriever?" Jun asked incredulously.

"It's fully possible that these..." Before she could finish, Amara's voice screeched from across the room.

"WAIT!" The two officers turned in surprise and watched the young woman sprint across the width of the flight deck carrying two large cardboard signs.

She reached the two of them and bent over at the waist, breathing heavily. A raised finger warned them to wait a few moments before saying anything. Finally, the grad student picked up one of the cardboard charts and began.

"It's fully possible that these aliens evolved from a woodland planet where life forms didn't progress past that of scavengers like wolves or hyenas," she said breathlessly. The chart she held up as evidence showed a picture of two worlds, one was earth and was marked by a picture of a human. The other was green and had a picture of Lassie over the top of it.

"I see," Jun said nonjudgementally. "What about the other alien?"

He said this as Genechiro walked up to them. "Sir," he greeted Jun with a weary salute. "The recovery operation was successful."

"What have you got, Commander?" Jun asked, stepping toward the other Starhawk.

"It's... a little hard to explain, Sir," he replied. "It's..."

"A child," Makoto finished in a whisper, her gaze locked on the small alien standing at the top of the Starhawk's ramp.

The child, a girl Jun thought, stood only three feet high. Her skin was a pale pink and glittered like wet sand at the beach. A thick tuft of dark pink hair covered her head, framed by two pointed, elongated ears. Her eyes were a deep blue and had the same glitter effect as her skin, but the beauty the effect caused couldn't hide the fear in her eyes.

"She's said a few things," Genechiro continued as if the girl weren't even there. "But of course, we have no idea what's she saying."

Jun smiled, his gaze never leaving the girl. "In the movies, all the aliens spoke English," he noted.

"That's because the movies were made in America," Chase pointed out.

"Or Canada!" Amara added defiantly.

"Has anyone tried?" Jun asked.

"What? Speaking English?" Amara asked. "If you think it'll help..."

"No, I mean just communicated." When he didn't receive an answer, he walked up the girl, who stepped back a pace.

Of all the momentous words Jun imagined himself saying upon the first contact with another species, he never thought he'd start with, "Hi there. My name is Jun."

The girl replied in her own language, a musical sound that made Jun think of harps and flutes.

Well, it was a start.

With a sigh, he turned to his new answer lady. "Amara?"

"Well...," she began with her finger on her lip. "We could try the translator matrix. But in order for it to work, she has to talk a lot until the computer has enough information to make a stab at translation."

Jun nodded. "Sounds good. Why don't you take her down to sickbay. You can get the computer going and the doctors can check her out."

Amara nodded and stepped forward, offering the girl her hand. After a moment's hesitation, the girl took it and let Amara lead her away.

Noting how easy that was, Amara turned back to them. "Not all communication is verbal," she said with a wink.

She turned again and led the child toward the door. As they passed the other Starhawk, a loud bang made them both jump. Amara and the girl turned as another bang shook the hangar.

From inside the Starhawk's hull, the werewolf was pounding the walls in fury.

To be continued...


	4. Everybody's Talk'n

Foreword:

It's been awhile, and I'm sorry I kept you waiting. Things got hectic all of a sudden with a new baby on the way, and for awhile I lost my mojo. But here's chapter 4 and I'm working on chapter 5 as we speak.

Now some people have commented on my trying to interject some military realism into this fic. For those who may not be so inclined, I'm trying a little something different with this chapter. After certain words you'll see a number. Those are endnotes. At the end of this fic, there are explanations for the terms or just background information that a reader might like to know about.

By the way, Nadesico is not mine.

Oysters and Pearls

Chapter 4

Everybody's Talk'n

A normal "stand-up" usually lasts an hour, but given the situation, Jun allotted some extra time for the daily afternoon meeting of his commanders and department heads. Taking his seat at the head of the conference table, the young captain didn't waste time.

He gave a nod to Ruri. "Ship's Ops."

"Omoikane checks out," the girl replied semi-deadpan. "The distortion field is at ninety-three percent and holding steady."

Jun jotted down some notes. "Helm."

"Navigation computers are back online, and we have determined that this is, in fact, Epsilon Eridani," Chase told him. "We're waiting to get some more information about the location of planets, asteroids and such from the science geeks before we start thinking about setting a course."

"Emergency egress?" Jun asked him.

"Ruri thinks the distortion field will protect us from solar radiation long enough for us to slip between the two suns," Chase told him warily. "It's risky, but if we have to retreat pretty quick, that'll lose 'em."

Jun nodded again. "Comm?"

"Intership and short range communication checks out fine," Megumi told him from his left. "The translight transmitter, however, is fried. And I have no idea how to repair it."

The captain frowned as he wrote. "Engineering?"

"Propulsion is online, Sir," Hideki told him. "Full navigation in all flight modes."

Jun nodded. "Flight Ops?"

Ryoko stood up and read off a notepad. "We're at ninety percent, and all squadrons are prepared to deploy. Since the scanners are back online, I've recalled the SWACS(1), but I've got the RJ(2) flying in a wide pattern with its ears open." She looked up briefly. "Scorch and Nuts(3) are on Alert Five. Flight deck reports fully functional."

She sat down as Jun wrote in his notebook. "Services?"

The commander of his Services Squadron looked up wearing an expression of a man who wished he didn't have to say what he had to say. "Chow hall is good to go, food checks out, but..." he paused. "The holographic interaction unit is fried out, and there are no replacements onboard."

More than one person grimaced. The HIU was an integral part of the ship's morale, welfare and recreation system. It was a hurtful blow.

Jun, however, really had more important things to worry about just this second. "Okay, we'll take a look at our options for that at the next stand-up. Sciences?"

Aurora stood up, cleared her throat and set up some graphs. "From what we can gather, there are two planets within a week's travel from here. One toward the suns and one further away. Both appear capable of supporting life."

"Any idea which species can be found on either planet?" Jun asked.

"Not from the scanners," Aurora said. "However..."

"Go on," Jun gestured.

"Well, I can make a leap of faith in one direction or the other," she went on. "For instance, what we've learned from an examination of our guests, it's reasonable to assume that the child comes from a warmer planet than the other...er...alien, given the lack of fur."

Jun arched an eyebrow. "Chase?"

The helmsman flipped a coin and caught it, slapping it on the back of his other hand. "Inward, Sir."

"Good enough for me," the captain agreed. "Mister Warren, make our course for the inward planet, all ahead one half."

The musician left his seat. "Aye aye, Sir."

"Any seconds?" he asked the remaining officers. The security forces commander raised his hand. With a nod from Jun, he stood up.

"Sir, my men have searched the ship for Dr. Franssenge three times. She's not onboard. I'd like to return them to their normal duties."

The captain sighed. As much as he hated to say it, the commander was right. He nodded again. "Go ahead. Anyone else? All right, everyone, back to work."

Ruri accepted the plate of cookies from Houmei and arched an eyebrow at the sheer magnitude of confection on the plate. There were probably fifty cookies stacked like an Incan ziggurat precariously on the aluminum disc.

"There's only going to be two of us," Ruri pointed out.

"It might take awhile," Houmei said with a wink.

The girl sighed and started toward the door. "Baka," she whispered. She balanced the desserts carefully as she walked down the corridor to the lift. Waiting while the elevator took her to sickbay, she tried to figure out why the Kanchou had asked her to do this.

"You look to be about the same age," Jun had told her. "You might be able to get her to talk to you."

She didn't buy it and told him as much.

"Just smile," he said. "It's universal."

"Baka," she whispered again. But she'd do it for Jun. She felt he'd earned the benefit of the doubt after all these years, though some would disagree. When he had first taken command of the Nadesico after Yurika Misumaru's disappearance, there was a lot of doubt and rumor-mongering going on aboard the ship. First, Jun had disappeared for more than a year, and while most of the old Nadesico crew knew why, it was something they all swore not to discuss. Then, Yurika disappeared and Jun came back. Conspiracy theories went wild.

But after a few months and several engagements, the crew accepted Jun as Kanchou. While he didn't possess the tactical and strategic genius that contributed to Yurika's reputation, neither did he possess the eccentricities that were her hallmark. He was solid, a calming presence on the bridge, and more capable, she thought, than the majority of the UE commanders who had somehow earned commissions during the Jovian War.(4)

She entered sickbay and walked straight to the back room where the alien child was resting. Upon seeing Ruri walking toward her, the child sat up from the bed in fear.

Ruri bit her lip and smiled broadly. It made her face hurt.

The alien inched further away.

Ruri dropped the smile and sighed. "My name is Ruri Hoshino," she said, repeating verbatim the greeting she'd been taught since her first day of the massive computer simulation she had called her childhood. "It's nice to meet you."

The girl said nothing.

Ruri pointed at herself. "Ruri," she said. "Ruri." She pointed at the girl expectedly.

The alien paused, then opened her mouth and emitted a musical sound like that of a flute being played.

"I don't think I can pronounce that," Ruri told her simply. She decided to just go with the first notes the girl gave her. She pointed at the alien. "Wei-Hu," she said, trying her best to simulate the sound.

The alien said nothing.

"Omoikane is listening to us," Ruri explained, deciding it might be better to get to the point. "He has to hear you speak so he can learn your language. After he's done that, we can use the translators Miss Dayne brought from Earth to talk to each other."

The alien, again, said nothing.

Ruri sighed and lifted the plate. "Cookie?"

Genechiro turned the corner and stopped at the entrance to the brig. The SFS guard came to attention and unlocked it for him before stepping aside to let him pass. The Jovian commander walked in. There were five cells on each side of him with steel bars reinforced with tungsten keeping the riff-raff in.

The wolf creature saw him enter from his seat in the far right cell and stood up. Genechiro put his hands on his hips and gave the creature a glare.

"I have questions for you," the XO told it. "You're going to answer them or I'm going to make your stay with us very unpleasant." He waited for the creature to speak.

It chose not to.

"You're going to help us learn your language," Genechiro told it. He held up one of the translators.

The creature growled at him.

"I'm going to guess that's the word for 'no,'" the XO replied. He stepped forward until his face was only inches from the bars. "We have time. All the time in the..."

Suddenly, the creature reached through the bars and grabbed the Jovian's head! He pulled sharply, slamming Genechiro's head into the tungsten bars, knocking him cold.

The creature followed the XO's limp form to the floor and reached out again, grabbing the man's key-card. A quick swipe and the creature was free.

Another second and he was past the guard.

A few seconds later, he was on his way to the bridge...

The lift opened, and Jun turned, surprised to see Ruri back so soon.

"Back so soon?" he asked.

"She said a few words," Ruri told him nonchalantly. "I think she's scared."

"Wouldn't you be?" Megumi asked as the 13-year-old took her seat next to her. "Shot at, picked up by aliens from god-knows-where..."

"Yeah," Chase threw in. "Ain't it cool?" He grinned.

"How warped are you?" Megumi asked him, shaking her head.

"Warped enough to sign up for this," he replied with a shrug. Seeing the commo unmoved, he threw his hands in the air. "Relax!" he cried. "The girl's safe, the monster's in the brig, and we're up here styl'n! Everything is COOL!"

The lift doors suddenly burst open, and an eight foot werewolf stepped through.

Chase shot Megumi a look. "Oh, don't even start..."

The creature howled and leapt toward Jun.

"JUN!" Megumi screamed. At the exact same time, Ruri was calling Security Forces.

The werewolf landed a foot from Jun and growled.

Chase broke the glass container on a nearby fire extinguisher and shouted. "Be submissive, Sir! Look at the floor! Avert your gaze!"

"It's not a gorilla, you idiot!" Megumi screamed at him hysterically. "DO SOMETHING!"

Jun looked the creature in the eye. He'd been faced with worse. The werewolf stared at him, blue eyes piercing the short distance between them.

In that moment, Jun saw something.

Desperation.

The emergency lift behind him opened, and two SF's stepped out, submachine guns at the ready.

The creature howled.

"STOP!" Jun shouted at them. "HOLD YOUR FIRE!" He turned to them, breaking his gaze with the werewolf. As he did, the creature raised its claws to strike.

"JUN!"

At that moment, inspiration struck Ruri, and her fingers danced over the ops panel. Suddenly, the werewolf's hands went to its ears, and it screamed.

Jun turned back in time to see the wolf creature fall to its knees. The SF's were no slouches. They jumped on the monster and shoved its oversized wrists into a pair of cuffs. Once he was secure, Ruri typed something into Omoikane. The creature calmed down.

"Ruri chan," Megumi began breathlessly. "What did you do?"

"The alien is of a canine variety, just like Ms. Dayne said," Ruri replied. "I just had Omoikane pump in the ship's whistle at an ultra-high frequency."

"A dog whistle," Jun said. "Nice."

The SF's took the creature away, Jun following it with his gaze.

"Jun chan?" Megumi whispered. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said off-handedly. "Ruri, I want you to keep trying with the alien girl. I need more information about them."

Ruri nodded and left for the elevator.

Jun's gaze caught Chase's. "'Be submissive?'" he asked.

The helmsman shrugged. "Works on the Discovery Channel."

Jun smiled, but it disappeared a moment later. "Megumi," he began. "Please ask Izumi to come to the bridge."

By the time Izumi arrived on the bridge, Jun had already been called back down to the flight deck where she had just been ten minutes ago. She sighed and stepped back into the lift. Lighting a cigarette, she waited for the lift to shuttle her back down.

She wasn't in her flight suit today. As part of her punishment for going off-mission, Ryoko had scheduled her for extra landing officer duty, so she was dressed in white from head to toe to separate her from other duties on the flight deck.(5)

The lift came to a stop and she got out, pausing only long enough to put out her cigarette. She asked the Deck Officer where the Kanchou was, and he directed her to a maintenance bay on the far side of the flight deck.

The maintenance bay was scattered with wreckage, but not from an Aesti or a Gekigangar. She recognize the material immediately. Hideki was talking with Jun, hoisting a large canister as if in evidence.

"Loaded with oxygen cans, Sir," Hideki was telling him. "I count seventeen so far."

"You're saying this was a short range fighter that was modified?" Jun asked.

Hideki nodded. "Yes, Sir."

Jun's finger went to his chin in thought.

"Something else, Sir," Hideki broke into his reverie. "Out of these seventeen canisters, only one of them had any oxygen left."

The Kanchou took a breath. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.

Hideki nodded. "This guy wasn't planning on coming back," he said simply. "It looks like he spent two weeks getting from whereever he came from to that spot, and that was going to be it."

Jun slapped Hideki gently on the back. "Good work, Hideki. Continue analyzing the alien's spacecraft."

"Yes, Sir."

He turned to Izumi. "You got a few minutes?"

"I'm not an interrogator, Jun," Izumi told him plainly as she lit another cigarette. "Get the SF guys to do it."

The two of them were sitting in the pilots' briefing room. Izumi stood off to the side while Jun sat in one of the pilots' chairs.

"Quite frankly," she started again. "I didn't think you'd let Tsukuomi do it, given how you feel about Jovian methods and all," she told him carefully.

Jun simply nodded. "He's the XO," he explained. "It was his job to perform. But now it's time to try something different."

"So why me?"

"Because the two of you have more in common than anyone else here," he explained. "You're both pilots. You were both out there, in that battle."

Izumi said nothing, waiting for something more concrete.

"Right now, he's alone," Jun told her softly. "That's a bad place to be. He needs someone who can connect with him on some level. I think it's you."

Before he could continue, Megumi's face appeared between them. "Kanchou, sensors report one heavy directly ahead and ten degrees above the ecliptic."(6)

Jun nodded. "Go to condition two(7) and have Chase set an intercept cour..."

Megumi turned her head, and Jun could just make out Ruri's voice from the other end. His wife turned back to him. "Kanchou, sensors report the ship has already changed course to intercept US! Time to intercept..." She turned back to Ruri, then back to him. "Four and a half hours."

"I'll be right up," he told her. Megumi's face disappeared. He looked at Izumi. "I need information, Colonel," he said. "I need it in four and a half hours."

With only four hours until the Nadesico would meet an alien capital ship face to face for the first time, the ship was a beehive of activity. Aurora, who had spent the majority of her young life in the campuses of Todai, UCLA and Columbia, was unused to the orderly confusion aboard a battleship before a POSSIBLE battle. No one knew what was going on or why, yet everyone knew what THEY were supposed to do and how.

It was in the middle of this thought, as she walked down the corridor, that Ryoko interrupted her.

"Oh, Colonel, I'm sorry! I..."

Ryoko didn't even bother to acknowledge her. She simply took the woman's hand and started down the corridor. "Come with me," she said simply. "You're on in five minutes."

"On?" Aurora asked. "On what?"

"If the target becomes hostile," Ryoko continued from her lecturn. "Wing support from Nadesico may be critical." Behind her, a smartboard showed a wire representation of Nadesico and possible representations of ships from both alien species encountered so far. Before her, all pilots on board the Nadesico except one were sitting in their chairs, looking back at her.

"Now, for a capabilities brief, Ms. Aurora Dayne, our acting science officer. She's a civilian GS-11, so you will treat her with the same respects as you would a major. Ms. Dayne."

Aurora stood in front of the smartboard, eyes wide in nervous fear. She leaned over the microphone. "Uh...hi," she said. A squeal of feedback filled the room.

Someone coughed in the back of the room.

"Well... um," she began. "We... we really don't know anything useful at the moment." She took a deep breath.

Inez, she thought. How would Inez do this?

Inez would own the room, she concluded. She could admit to knowing nothing and everything at the same time.

Aurora straightened. "But given what we've seen so far, we can make some educated guesses," she began again with more force.

Yeah, I can do this, she thought.

Izumi entered the brig and immediately addressed the two SF troops on guard. "Go get some chow," she said simply. The two men looked to each other for a second, then walked out.

The wolf creature looked up at her defiantly, a half-snarl on his face.

She regarded him for another second and pointed at herself. "Maki," she told him simply and pointed at him.

The creature said nothing.

She took another second, then pointed at him again. This time, she spread her hand out, with her pinky and her thumb stretched out like an airplane. "Shoooooooooo," she said, moving the hand around.

The creature looked at her with a little more interest.

With her other hand, Izumi used two fingers to represent legs and her thumb and pinkey to represent arms. "Cheeeeuuuuuuu," she noised, then pointed at herself.

She then brough the two up together, the human figure behind the airplane.

"RATATATATATA!" she said. She spread the fingers of the airplane hand wide and followed up with, "BOOM!"

Recognition dawned on the werewolf's face. He pointed at her. "Krofarim," he said simply.

She pointed at herself again. "Pilot," she said. "Maki." She pointed at him. "Pilot..."

He raised a paw and pointed at himself. "Barkkrarak."

"Target coming within range of short-range sensors now, Kanchou," Ruri calmly informed him, her eyes never leaving her panel.

"Let's see it," he ordered.

The viewscreen shifted, showing something both beautiful and awe-inspiring. It was simple in design, yet beautiful. It looked like the marquis-cut diamond in Megumi's wedding ring, only pink and millions times the size. Smaller crystals floated around it.

Before he could ask, Ruri had the answer. "Confirming several smaller craft in position around the larger one," she said. "Escort fighters by Omoikane's guess."

"Any energy readings that would suggest weaponry arming up?" he asked.

Ruri shook her head. "But it's very hard to tell. Their energy signature is very different from ours. I'm also not detecting anything like a distortion field or Jovian force field."

"What does it say about a species that doesn't think it needs a force field?" Megumi asked hopefully.

"I wouldn't let your guard down," Aurora cautioned. "It's possible they just don't need one." She shook her head as she looked at the readings on the science monitor. "The crystal lattice structure of that ship is very strong."

"Meg chan, start scanning for frequencies with chatter on it," Jun ordered. "See if you can find a medium we can communicate on."

Megumi nodded and started scanning.

"Ruri, go down to sickbay and bring our guest up."

Without a word, the silver-haired girl started toward the lift.

"Jun, I think I have something," Megumi told him.

"Can you patch me in?"

She nodded. "You're on."

"Unknown spacecraft," Jun began, silently wishing there was a more polite way of phrasing it. "My name is Captain Jun Aoi, representing the United Earth Government and the Jovian Union." He shook his head ruefully and went ahead and said it. "We come in peace."

From the cockpit of her Aestavalis, Ryoko listened to the bridge communicator and flexed her fingers. Directly in front of her, cold space waited for her, for something to go wrong and for her and three other Aestis to leap off the flight deck before the distortion field went up.

Ringed around the flight deck, Rikari's entire Gekigangar squadron was waiting to Boson jump outside the ship and surprise the aliens. If they were hostile, they'd get the shock of their lives.

She guaranteed that.

For an agonizing minute, nothing but static answered them. Then, without warning, the static stopped. For one more breathless second there was nothing, and then...

A flute, or a clarinet, came over the comm. The song was quick and agitated. Remembering Ruri's report, Jun realized someone was talking to them. He turned quickly to Megumi.

"Is the translator getting all this!"

She nodded. "It's recording now."

There was static on the viewscreen, and then a pink-haired man appeared. His mouth moved and more of the musical notes came through.

"We don't know your language," Jun explained. "But our translator matrix can put it together the more we communicate."

At that moment, Ruri appeared with the alien child in tow.

The change in the alien man was immediate. His face turned deep red and the tone of his speech deepened by several octaves.

"Ah, shit, this just went bad!" Chase hissed.

Jun put his hands up to try to calm the captain. That's when the child began to speak urgently. She pointed at the humans several times.

"She's diming us out," Chase whispered.

Slowly, the man's face softened and returned to its normal color. When he spoke again, it was softly. He bowed his head to Jun.

"Is that 'thank you?'" Megumi asked.

"Let's find out," Jun replied. He gestured to the man. "You are welcome to come aboard and get Wei Hu," he said, gesturing to the child in turn. The man looked puzzled. Jun thought for a moment, then pointed at the man. He raised his palm and scrunched his fingertips together until his hand was as close to a diamond shape as he could make it. Then, making the same whooshing sound Izumi had earlier, he moved the hand until it rested on Chase's control panel.

The man got it. Jun could see realization on his face. He bowed to Jun and made another musical noise. Then the screen went black.

"Guess who's coming to dinner," Ruri noted.

"Have Ryoko clear the flight deck," Jun ordered, relieved. "Leave the flight bay doors open and have an experienced flight officer guide them in manually." He looked to Megumi. "Meg chan, send them copies of our language database. We can make much of their language, maybe they can do something with ours."

Megumi nodded.

Jun turned to Wei Hu and bowed. "Thank you," he said.

The girl curtsied.

For the first time in days, things were looking up.

End Notes

1. Spaceborne Warning And Control Ship

2. The Rivet Jack in this story is based on the modern day RC-135 Rivet Joint based at Offutt AFB, Neb. Rivet Joint crews are probably some of the ballsiest people serving in the Air Force as their aircraft are slow, unarmed and 40 years old. Many reconnaissance crews in the RJ's predecessors, the RB-47 and RB-29 were shot down by Russian fighters while flying reconnaissance missions near Soviet airspace making them some of the very few DIRECT Cold War casualties.

3. "Scorch" and "Nuts" are the callsigns of modern day Air Force fighter pilots. Scorch is the callsign of the commander of the first operational F-22A squadron.

4. Due to numerous losses and high attrition towards the end of the Jovian War, most UE warship commanders had less than 7 years in the service.

5. Deck crew on aircraft carriers wear different colors depending on their duties. Izumi is working as a landing officer, a collateral duty that all pilots, including the CAG, must conduct.

6. The ecliptic is a plane in space that bisects both the earth and the sun, thus allowing a fixed reference for altitude. In this case, the ecliptic is based on the plane directly bisecting the two suns.

7. Conditions aboard a warship determine readiness. Condition 3 is normal cruising, Condition 2 is when half the ship's weaponry is armed, and Condition 1 is full battlestations.


	5. Simply Complicated

I do not own or pretend to own either Nadesico or Jimmy Buffett.

Oysters and Pearls

Chapter 5: Simply Complicated

Jun landed in the chair at the end of the briefing table and started undoing the tie on his dress uniform. "So," he said to the others seating themselves around the room. "What do you think?"

The rest of the senior officers looked as tired and as excited as he was. Considering their last first contact with an alien race, the alien captain's visit went remarkably well.

Ha-Luu, as Jun had dubbed him, borrowing Ruri's idea to name the alien captain by the first two audible syllables of his musical name, seemed just as excited as they were to make contact with a race from another solar system. The alien captain was so eager to foster good relations that he spoke constantly until Jun's translator actually had enough to go on to actually translate the captain's words.

Of course, a few bugs had to be worked out of the system. The first sentence that came out in Japanese was, "By very rights a peaceful entity and one of virulent grace will ascend to a perch in the well feelings of living and nonliving sentients."

To which Jun could only reply, "Huh?"

"They seem nice," Megumi volunteered.

"Saving Wei-Hu obviously put our stock up there," Ryoko added. "I guess it was the right thing to do after all." Though she didn't look at Izumi, her meaning was clear.

"So what do we do now?" Chase asked.

"It's hard to say for sure, but I think I got him to understand the language barrier problem and our solution," Jun told them. "And I THINK he said Wei-Hu will stay onboard to work with Ruri, whom apparently she thinks very highly of, with getting the translators to work better with their language."

"In the meantime," Genechiro put in, "They're going to take us to their leaders."

Half the room started laughing. The rest needed an explanation.

"What?" Genechiro asked. "What did I say?"

Jun grinned. "Izumi, what about our guest in the brig?"

She nodded. "I've been working with him. Some of the words are coming through the translator, but it's the same problem we're having with...with..."

"Yeah, what are we calling them, anyway?" Ryoko asked. "Does their species have a name?"

"They do," Jun said. "It's about a hundred and twenty syllables long and translates into 'caregivers.'"

Izumi paused. "Anyway, same problem with the canine race. Their name isn't as long, but translates into 'waiters.'"

"As in they're waiting for something to happen?" Rikari asked.

"No," Izumi said, a little exasperated by the situation. "Like the kind that serve drinks."

Jun blinked. "Keep working with him." Izumi nodded. "One more thing," he continued. "Until we know more about the political situation here, don't tell the... Caregivers... that we have a Waiter on board."

"I agree," Izumi jumped in. The rest of the room gave her a puzzled look. "I can't put my finger on it, but there's something not right here."

Jun nodded. "All right, each of you write up your reports and forward them to myself and Aurora. Chase, keep us alongside the Caregiver ship and match speed and heading. Aurora, Ruri, Izumi, keep working on those translations. Any seconds?"

No hands went up.

"All right. Dismissed."

&&&&&&&

Jun left the bridge to work on his report, but Megumi wanted to check her mail. She didn't notice at first that Chase had followed her.

"Something wrong?" she asked as she logged into her terminal.

"No, just curious about something," he said. "The skipper's uniform had a black ribbon in his fruit salad.(1). I'd never seen that before. Do you know what it is?"

Megumi paused for a moment before shrugging. "Couldn't tell you."

Chase didn't buy it. "Are you sure? It was pretty high up there, right above his Silver Star."

She turned in her chair and glared at him. The warrant officer was taken aback for a moment. "I don't know," she said icily. "If you don't believe me, look it up in the computer." She turned back to her e-mail.

"Right," he said. "Sorry." He turned and walked off.

Megumi took a breath and cursed to herself.

&&&&&&&

Jun had just removed his dress jacket when someone knocked on his door.

Not chimed.

Knocked.

Loudly.

Then they did it again, louder.

"Just a second," Jun called, opening a box in his closet and pulling out his service pistol. After that little incident with the Waiter on the bridge, there was no point in taking chances. "Come in!"

The door slid open and Genechiro came barreling inside. "Did you know about this!"

Jun sighed and put the gun back in the box. "Know about what, Commander?"

The Jovian officer held up a blue flyer. "This!"

Jun took the piece of paper and read over it. "An anime showing," Jun said. He looked up and shrugged. "So? With the holo-emitters down, things like this will be good for morale."

"Look who's running it!" Genechiro fumed.

Jun looked down at the paper again. "Lieutenant Commander Amano," he read. "Once again, so what?"

The XO(2) looked ready to pull his hair out in frustration. "HE'S SHOWING MACROSS!"

Jun looked down for a third time and saw that the anime showing would feature remastered vids of Macross.

He looked up at Genechiro. "So..."

"It's HERESY!" he screamed. "At the very least it's a hate crime!"

"I'm not sure showing badly drawn anime constitutes a hate crime," Jun said. "On the other hand..." He pressed a few buttons and Hideki's face appeared.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Hideki, could you come to my quarters for a minute?"

"Be right there, Sir."

Genechiro silently fumed while they waited, refusing Jun's offer of a drink or a seat. Finally, the bald man entered.

"Something I can do for you, Sir?"

Genechiro grabbed the flyer and held it under the engineer's nose. "What is the meaning of THIS!"

Jun put his hand on his XO's shoulder. "Commander Amano, Commander Tsukuomi just brought this to my attention. He's a little concerned."

"I can see," Hideki replied with a grin.

Genechiro bit back the insults he wanted to hurl at the man.

"I have no problem with an anime showing," Jun continued. "I think it'd be good for morale." Hideki beamed. "But I'm going to ask you this because I know anime in the Jovian Union has far different meanings that it does on Earth, religious meanings."

He looked Hideki in the eye. "Is this innocent fun or are you preaching to the masses?"

For the first time, Hideki's grin slipped.

"I knew it!" Genechiro snarled.

"It's a little of both, Sir," Hideki admitted. "You have to understand, this is the first place I've ever been where I can show my collection to people without fear of ignorant, hateful reprisals." He glared at Genechiro as he said this last part.

Jun nodded. "As I said before, the UE recognizes the universal freedom of religious expression." Hideki's smile started to return. "That said," Jun continued a little harder, "Failing to inform people of what they're really in for is at best rude, at worst trickery. And I won't have that."

Hideki sighed, his smile gone. "You want me to cancel?"

Genechiro grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

"No," Jun said to both their surprise. "Print up new flyers honestly explaining what you're doing and pull these down."

"What!" Genechiro cried. "That's unacceptable! He's trying to seduce young Jovians toward heresy! That's a CRIME!"

"Not onboard this ship," Jun explained, turning away and walking into the kitchen. "As a courtesy, however Commander Amano, I would like you to inform Colonel Rikari of what you intend so he can take what action he feels necessary with his pilots."

Hideki saluted smartly. "Yes, Sir!" He smirked at Genechiro and walked out.

Genechiro shook his head and glared at Jun. "Have you no respect whatsoever for our religious beliefs?" he asked in shocked anger. "How are we supposed to trust you when you let this kind of thing happen!"

Jun took a breath and started to get angry. "Respecting the beliefs of others is something the UE has always tried to uphold," he hissed. "Now until I say he can have a Macross showing and you CAN'T have a Gekigangar showing, you have nothing to bitch about. That's called fairness."

"But..."

"You can go, Commander."

Genechiro stormed out, smacking the door frame with the palm of his hand as he went.

&&&&&&&&&&

Izumi sat down with a cup of coffee and offered one to Barkrarak. The canine alien took the mug and inspected it thoroughly, trying to find the best of getting the liquid inside his snout without spilling any. Finally, he just started lapping it up with his tongue.

The Aesti pilot put the translator into her ear and began. "Okay, right to the point," she said as Barkrarak put in his own earpiece. "Why did you attack that ship?"

"Waiters wait on inconsiderate consumers," the canine replied. "Waiters not wishing to remain Waiters seek to no longer be Waiters."

"But why attack that ship?" she pressed.

"Consumer who makes Waiters endure being Waiters propels through vaccuumous areas shirking accompanyment from less bulbous propellers inclined to preserve Consumer's existence."

"Wait," Izumi said, holding her hand up and rising to her feet. "You're the Waiters, they're the Consumers." She worked it out in her head. "'Propels through vaccuumous areas,' you mean 'space.' The Consumer traveled through space."

The canine wagged his head from side to side like an old bobblehead toy, a gesture Izumi learned was an affirmative.

"'Shirked accompanyment,' he was traveling alone," she continued. 'Inclined to preserve the Consumer's existence...'" She sat down again. "You're talking about escort fighters. He didn't have any escort fighters."

Barkrarak looked at her in puzzlment.

Izumi stood up again and pulled up a view window. Logging onto Nadesico's official wireless site, she found the photo gallery and pulled up an old picture of the Nadesico with three Aestivalis flying alongside. She showed the prisoner the picture. Then used her hands to cover the Aestivalis.

"No escort fighters," she repeated.

Barkrarak barked once and bobbled his head again in agreement.

Finally it was starting to make sense. "You somehow knew this Consumer was going to be traveling near here with no escort fighters." She nodded. "Okay, so who is this Consumer? Why did you want to kill him?"

"The Consumer was a Consumer authorized to serve in a position of administrative control over a large numerical value of other Consumers."

"He was a leader," Izumi said. "A captain? An admiral?" Ice clutched her. "A president?"

He said nothing.

"A king?"

The canine barked again. "The weakest but most important chess piece," he said in a way that made Izumi think he was agreeing with her.

Izumi put her face in her hands. What looked like a simple act of piracy was starting to look like something much more complicated. Jun wasn't hiding a pirate aboard his ship.

He was hiding a royal assassin.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Full house," Ruri intoned calmly, placing her cards on the table in front of her.

"Jesus Herbert-Walker Christ," Chase muttered, throwing his cards down. "That's the fifth hand in a row."

Ruri said nothing, just pulling her winnings closer to her pile. She and Chase were the only ones in the rec room still playing the game, the others leaving the moment Ruri sat down.

"You have a system," he accused her.

"Of course she does, you jackass," an Aestivalis maintainer said from the bar. "She's a child genius, she's been counting the cards in her head since the first deal."

Chase looked at her in shock. "Ruri chan?" he asked.

"I will not deny that I am quite good at mathematics," she said simply, shuffling the cards. "Ante please."

Chase threw in a buck, but gave up all hope of seeing it again. He decided to try his luck on another matter instead. "Hey, Ruri," he said. "What's the deal with the Skipper?"

Ruri tossed five cards his way. "Explain," she asked.

"Well, I asked Megumi today about the black ribbon he has in his fruit salad, and she bit my head off." Ruri said nothing. "Do you know anything about it?"

"No," she told him simply. "You should try the computer."

Chase shook his head. "No, you see this is where it gets really weird. Omoikane won't let anyone into the Skipper's file."

"Then you shouldn't be asking around," someone said from another table.

The helmsman ignored him. "I can see blacking out parts of a record to cover up special missions or something, but to lock down an entire record?"

"Bet?"

"Huh? Oh, two," he said. "I mean, it sounds to me like either he was special forces or he really fucked up somewhere and now the Navy's hiding it..."

"Hey, buddy," someone called. "She said she doesn't know. No one here knows anything about it. So shut up."

Chase turned to face the guy and found to his surprise a lot of angry faces looking at him. Except for the people who came onboard the ship the same time he did, just about everyone seemed irritated with him talking about it.

"Hey, asshole," Chase told him, ignoring the stares. "No one asked you."

The man, a maintainer sporting petty officer stripes, stood up along with two of his friends and walked over to him.

"Fuck," Chase muttered.

"Cards?" Ruri asked.

"Yeah, give me three. I'll be right back." He stood up and faced the three men.

"I think you oughta have another beer and stop asking questions," the petty officer told him dangerously. "No one wants to hear what you think."

"Hey, I'm a fan of beer and all, but go fuck yourself, okay?" Chase said.

"You looking for some kind of trouble?" one of the maintainer's friends asked him.

"Well," Chase sighed dejectedly. "There are three of you, so..." He suddenly dived for the maintainer and started wailing on him.

Ruri placed her final bet and looked at Chase's cards.

"I win again," she said, pulling the pot back to her.

&&&&&&&&&&

"We've been here less than a week, and I already have to worry about cabin fever?" Jun asked of the four men standing at attention on the other side of his desk. Chase, the petty officer and his two friends stood there in various states of disarray. The fight had lasted all of thirty seconds before three guys from the laundry room intervened, pulling the men apart and incapacitating them all within a few moments.

Chase made a note not to screw with the laundry guys.

"I want to know how this started," Jun demanded. "Now."

Chase opened his mouth to speak, but the petty officer beat him to it.

"It was our fault, Sir," he jumped. "We... um... we were drinking and things just got out of hand."

"Out of hand?" Jun said. "Three maintainers and a warrant officer fighting just because?"

"He said something about the Washington Nationals, Sir," one of the other men threw in. "About how they cheated at the World Series." Chase blinked in shock. "We took it personally and things got out of hand. It was our fault, Sir."

Jun locked eyes with each of them. "Ten weeks extra duty for all of you. If I didn't need you working on Aestis and him on the bridge, I'd put you in the brig. Dismissed."

The four of them filed out of the captain's office. Once out of earshot, Chase tapped the petty officer on the shoulder. "Hey, what was that about?"

The enlisted man bit his lip and took Chase aside. "Listen, Sir," he began. "Just leave the Kanchou alone. You weren't here during the war. We look out for him. Let him be."

With that, the three men walked off.

"Okay, now it's just gonna bother me!" Chase muttered.

&&&&&&&&&&&

"I'll come back for you."

The redhead looked at her sadly from the other side of the comm window. "I know you will."

Izumi's eyes shot open, and she took a breath. Looking over at her alarm clock, she saw it was four a.m. Typical.

She sat up and swung her legs out of bed, putting her face in her hands for a moment, the last words of the dream haunting her like they usually did. She only really had the dream anymore when she subconsciously knew she was screwing up somewhere, but couldn't think of where.

One thing she knew for certain, she wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon. She got up and threw on her flight suit. She was scheduled for simulator time in two hours anyway. If she showed up now, the sim crew would probably slip her in early.

Flying usually cleared her head.

&&&&&&&&&

As the doors to the simulator chamber opened, she saw Colonel Rikari climbing out of the sim pod. Though they hadn't talked face to face, word was the Jovian commander was solid and much more accepting of the way the UE did things.

"Good morning, Sir," Izumi greeted.

"Good morning, Colonel Maki," Rikari returned with a smile, adjusting something on her flightsuit before standing up from the pod. "Awfully early, isn't it?"

Izumi froze in place for a moment, the colonel's voice triggering a memory. A chilling suspicion floated into her mind.

"Colonel?" Rikari asked.

Izumi recovered a moment later. "Um... I could ask you the same thing."

Rikari smiled. "I try to hit the sim every morning."

"I see," Izumi said cautiously.

"Are you okay?"

And then it passed. She smiled. "I'm fine, Sir. Thank you."

"I can't say this in public," Rikari told her. "But I was hoping I'd run into you. I wanted to tell you that you did well out there the other day."

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty," Izumi told her.

"Hard decisions had to be made," Rikari said. "The problem is making the right hard decision."

"Yes," Izumi said quietly. "I know." She decided to test her suspicion. "I was at the Battle of the Belt. I saw some very hard decisions made."

Rikari let out a breath and leaned against the pod. "Amazing, isn't it?" she asked. "A few years ago we were shooting at each other, now we're flying together." She walked past her for the door.

Ice clutched Izumi's heart, her suspicions confirmed.

"Yes," she whispered. "It's amazing."

&&&&&&&&&

"This blows," Chase said, spooning some slop onto Aurora's plate. His chef's hat was skewed to one side, barely covering his hair net.

"I heard," Aurora said sympathetically. "I didn't think they made people peel potatoes in the Army anymore."

"One," Chase said, "This isn't the Army, it's the Navy." He spooned some carrots onto the other side of the scientist's plate. "Two, the Potatomatron 8000 peels potatoes, I just slop them onto people's plates."

"Oh," Aurora said, corrected. "Did you at least win the fight?" she asked conspiratorially.

Chase's eyebrow twitched. "Next!" he called.

Aurora moved on, and Hideki took her place. "How long do you have to do this?"

"Ten weeks," Chase told him. "I guess it could be worse."

Hideki tsk'd. "You're a musician, Mister Warren. And musicians are destined for great things."

"Yeah? My old shop teacher didn't seem to think so."

"Yes," Hideki said to himself. "Great things."

&&&&&&&&

"Speaking with Captain Ha-Luu, it looks like you're right," Jun told Izumi as he ran his fingers through his hair. "This whole situation got ten times more complicated."

"Did he say who it was who was assassinated?" Izumi asked.

"He was very vague about it," Jun confessed. "It's hard enough to work through the translators when they're trying to communicate. I think they realize all they have to do is talk nonsense and we'll just chalk it up to our equipment." He sighed and sat down in his chair. "Whoever it was, it was important. I don't think it was their world leader, though."

Izumi nodded.

"However," Jun said, regaining some momentum. "They have asked me to pass these onto you and Razor." He produced two boxes from his desk and opened one of them. A small, green crystal glowed inside.

"The best translation is, 'The Glowing Gem of Doing One's Greatest Work at Facing Horrendous Chances of Success and Survival,'" Jun said. "Ryoko will present them at the next stand up."

"Keep it, Sir. I don't accept medals anymore." Her voice took on an icy tone. "You and I both know medals and ribbons don't tell the whole or even truthful story of what we do here."

He sighed again. "I noticed the other night during our visit with the Caregivers you weren't wearing your Navy Cross," he told her.

"I didn't earn it," she told him.

"Nonsense," he dismissed, getting angry now. "You need to stop whipping yourself. I know that's why you went off mission the other day."

Izumi said nothing.

"Tormenting yourself day in and day out will not bring Hikaru back," Jun bit out.

"You didn't kill her," she shot back quietly.

"Neither did you." He softened his tone again. "I know it's been hard for you," he said. "A lot of the pilots don't understand why you did what you did. Why you HAD to."

"If that will be all, Sir," Izumi broke in.

He sighed. "Keep up the good work with the prisoner," he told her. "Dismissed."

&&&&&&&&&

The door to the Nadesico Club slid open, revealing Ruri to those already inside. Rather than step inside the room, she waited, hands behind her back. Finally, after a moment, she looked down and to her right, gesturing to someone to go on ahead.

Wei-Hu peered cautiously around the door frame, not sure if the darkened room was someplace she really wanted to go.

"You said you wanted to see humans," Ruri reminded her. "These are where they're the most... human."

Wei-Hu thought for a moment before asking her guide, "Are the dangers inherent to places of mass quantities of inebriated bipeds minimal?" Her musical voice belied the nature of the question, understandable only to Ruri, who had one of the translator devices fixed to her ear.

"Yes," Ruri replied. She had found through talking with Wei-Hu that the longer your statement, the more likely it'll be misinterpreted.

With another unsure breath, the alien girl stepped inside. Ruri walked in and led her to a nearby table near the stage. Wei-Hu looked around in wonderment while Ruri opened a menu.

Before Ruri even knew what beverage she wanted, their table was assaulted by a horde of the ignorant.

"Oh! Is that the alien girl!" Looking up, Ruri saw a group of Houmei's kitchen girls surrounding the table, dressed to the nines as if they were clubbing back on Earth.

"KAWAII!" one of them squealed.

"WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" one of them shouted at Wei-Hu as if speaking louder will make her easier to understand.

Wei-Hu blinked and told them her name, which took about two minutes to actually say.

"Huh?" the girls asked in unison.

"Wei-Hu," Ruri told them.

"She's so adorable! How old are you, honey?"

Wei-Hu turned to Ruri. "The identity of these life forms is puzzling to I," Ruri heard through the translator. "What is their primary designation?"

Ruri, still wanting to keep her answers brief, thought for a moment.

"Baka," she told the alien.

Wei-Hu nodded. The kitchen girls left as feedback from the stage sounded through the room. Chase was tuning his guitar.

One thing Ruri noticed was that the club was actually crowded. While there was normally people getting dinner or just having a drink, the place seemed to be filling up pretty quick. She knew it couldn't have anything to do with Chase playing, he wasn't THAT good, but it made her wonder.

"Oi!" she called out to the kitchen girls. "Bakas! Why are there so many people here?"

The girls shrugged. "I guess with the holo-emitters down, everyone needs something to do off-duty," one of them suggested.

Ruri nodded to herself. This actually made sense.

Chase strummed a few notes, readjusted, then started playing in earnest. Even before the Nadesico had gone underway, Chase could usually be found here on Thursdays for amateur night.

Wei-Hu stared at him enthralled. She tugged on Ruri's shirt sleeve. "Please define for me these sonic harmonic vibrations."

"Normally it's called 'music,'" Ruri told her. "But this is Jimmy Buffet."

The alien girl looked back at the stage and whispered a sixteen-syllable word. "Beautiful," Ruri heard from her earpiece.

"Baka," Ruri whispered.

&&&&&&&&&

Izumi made herself comfortable on the fake grass of the zen room and looked out at the fake hillscape before her. She needed to clear her head, and no matter what she seemed to try today, she just couldn't do it.

She'd lost her focus this morning and never got it back.

Jun was right, she knew. She was whipping herself about Hikaru. And she deserved it.

And she knew she had lost more than her friend that day.

She looked up at the blue sky.

&&&&&&&&

Four years ago...

Izumi tapped the dorsal thrusters to glide around the asteroid in front of her. Situational awareness was paramount when flying in these conditions, especially when she wasn't allowed to turn her lidar on to track the movement of the giant rocks.

"Six-Two, this is Six-Five," she heard through her radio. "Izumi chan! Enough with the acrobatics!"

Izumi didn't smile. "Rock and roll," she muttered to herself, giggling slightly.

Hikaru's face appeared in front of her. "How much farther to our nav-point?" she asked. "If Erina wanted a really good look, she should have sent an RJ!"

She didn't answer. Hikaru knew just as well as she did that an RJ was too big to fly through an asteroid belt like this. It was exactly that kind of thinking that led Nergal to this plan. It was thought that the Jovians wouldn't expect a fleet to come through the asteroid belt. Now, however, every ship in that fleet, the Nadesico included, depended on Aestivalis acting as scouts.

Before Hikaru could complain further, a blip showed up on Izumi's short range sensors. "Contact," she said. "Zero-two-zero, Angels Ten," she said.

"I see 'em!" Hikaru noted with a tinge of anticipatory glee. "Hard to tell with the rocks, but..." Suddenly, the blips on Izumi's radar turned blue. "Oh, wait," Hikaru continued. "IFF reads them as friendlies. They must be from the Seraphim."

Izumi chewed on this for a moment. The Seraphim was the vanguard ship sent out ahead of the fleet. Izumi and Hikaru were patrolling solar east of the fleet.

"Patrol, this is Warpaint One," she heard in her headset. "You two lost?"

Hikaru looked puzzled. "Lost? My nav systems seem okay."

"The iron ore in these rocks have been giving us a hard time," the voice told them. "You're way off course. Hold tight and we'll escort you back."

"Izumi?" Hikaru asked.

Izumi squinted. The other ships were just coming into visual range. Suddenly, her threat board went red.

"Shit!" she gasped, jinking right.

A Jovian missile zipped by her, missing her by barely a yard. She heard an explosion and Hikaru swear.

"Dammit! I'm hit!"

"How bad?" Izumi asked, bringing her weapons up.

"Port engine's out," Hikaru told her. "But everything else checks out."

Looking down at her scope, Izumi saw several more blue blips on her screen. "Hikaru, I think we should go."

"EEP!" Hikaru squealed. Izumi surmised she had just seen her own screen. Izumi nosed her Aesti around and hit the afterburners.

The Jovian commander must have left the his radio on a UE frequency. "Run them down! We can't let them warn the others!"

Izumi banked around an asteroid for cover. Hikaru's face appeared next to hers again. "Did you hear that, Izumi chan! They know about the fleet!"

"And they don't want us getting to them either," Izumi noted.

"It's a trap!" they both surmised at once.

"Izumi chan! Wait up! I can't go as fast as you."

Izumi responded by turning toward one of the lumbering rocks. "Head for that cave," she said. "We'll hide there until they pass." She rolled ninety degrees and pulled up, ending the maneuver in a backflip that put the Aesti's feet on the asteroid's surface near the mouth of a relatively small cavern. Hikaru's damaged robot landed next to hers, and she pushed the redhead inside.

As soon as they were inside, Izumi started shutting down her electronics. She left the ultra-low frequency comm system and short range radar active, but every other light in her cockpit was out. Looking outside, she could see Hikaru's robot also going black.

Izumi took a breath and could see frost form in front of her lips. Her robot was getting colder with the life support reduced. That was a good thing. It would keep them off infrared.

She heard her radio squawk. "Izumi chan?"

"Yeah?" she whispered.

"What now?"

&&&&&&&&

Izumi's eyes popped open. She must have dozed off. Checking her watch, she found that twenty minutes had passed. She had come here to clear her head, and instead she took a nap. Cursing herself, she rose to her feet.

She still didn't know what to do about Barkrarak. If she was going to have a dream, at least it could have had the common courtesy to be prophetic. Instead it just reminded her of what a dumbass she'd been in the past...

She paused.

What if they had been misinterpreting this from the beginning?

What if they were taking things for granted and assuming that they were too alien to have anything in common?

What if, like when she and Hikaru had trusted their machines, they were being unintentionally tricked by technology?

With a renewed sense of purpose, the Aesti pilot headed for the lift.

&&&&&&&&&&

Chase's guitar went silent, and what was left of the crowd in the Nadesico Club applauded. Wei-Hu jumped out of her seat and clumsily slapped her hands together, the act of clapping new to her.

The helmsman opened his guitar case as the alien girl continued clapping and placed his guitar in it.

"Increased notes! Increased notes!" Wei-Hu begged.

Chase yawned as he closed the case. He wasn't wearing a translator, but the girl's tone was easy enough to decipher. "Sorry, hon," he said. "But it's late and I have duty tomorrow morning."

Wei-Hu's clapping trailed off as his words were translated. She turned to Ruri, absolutely crushed. "Certainly staying is more agreeable!" she cried. "Stay he must!"

Ruri yawned in response. "He has to work in a few hours," she told her. "And so do I."

Wei-Hu let out a note that reminded Ruri of an angry trumpet.

The human girl sighed. "He will play again tomorrow night," she promised. "Don't worry. Usually our problem is getting him to STOP."

Wei-Hu brightened at this. "This is truth!"

"What's the problem?" Chase asked Ruri.

"Apparently, for reasons I can't fathom, she likes your music," Ruri told him deadpan. "It must be some weird alien thing we'll never understand."

"Awww! That's cute!" Chase said with a grin. "I have a fan. That's a nice switch," he breathed darkly. He handed Wei-Hu his guitar pick. "Here, a souvenir."

Wei-Hu took the item and blinked at it. Clutching it to her breast, she closed her eyes. "My gratitude in wake of such an act of generosity knows only boundaries of galactic proportions rather than those of planet-bound ones. This unknown item from this point in time to the one beyond infinite will remain as one that is cherished more than that of a large, green circle."

"Whatever," Chase replied with a smile and a pat of the girl's head. "Ruri, I'll see you in the morning."

"Whatever," Ruri told him.

&&&&&&&&&

"Kanchou."

Jun looked up from the report he was reading. "Yes, Ruri?"

"Snoop One has detected radio telemetry bearing two-two-five, Angels three."

He turned to Megumi. "Get Scarf on the line, please."

Megumi adjusted her earpiece. "Snoop One, this is Management. Stand by for Nadesico Actual."

She gave Jun the nod. "This is Nadesico Actual, what've you got, Scarf?"

Captain Bethany "Scarf" Kelly's Texas drawl came through over his earpiece. "Ship to ship comm on a UHF band. Our best guess right now is at LEAST six capital ships talking to one another, but it's nothing like the squawk from the friendlies."

He shared a look with Megumi. Back home, six capital ships was a good size task force. He turned to Ruri. "Any indication that the Caregiver ships have detected them, Ruri?"

The girl shook her head. "Negative, Kanchou. There's been no change in their activities."

"Do we tell them?" Megumi asked.

"Snoop One, continue monitoring."

"Roger that."

Jun took a breath. "Megumi, get Ha-Luu on the line, please."

&&&&&&&&&

Izumi held the manila envelope under her arm like it contained state secrets. At first, the graphics shop tried to spin her a line about how it would take two days to get what she wanted, but like most things in the military, it came down to who you knew and what you were willing to bargain. And with a promise of half an hour in the flight simulator, the two-striper was more than willing to make an additional effort to get what she needed pronto.

She walked into the brig and tossed the furry alien an earset as she sat down. Barkrarak looked puzzled at her intensity and said nothing as she got down to business.

"I'm going to show you pictures of humans," she said. "When I do, I want you to point to the human in the picture that is a Waiter."

Barkrarak barked an affirmative.

Izumi held out a photo of a restaurant waiter pouring a glass of wine for a man in a tuxedo. Barkrarak pointed to the waiter. "The Waiter is he," she heard.

She put that picture aside and showed him another one, this one of a human doing laundry while a woman stood off to the side, reading a book.

He pointed at the person doing laundry.

The next picture was in black and white, it showed two women working on a farm while another walked nearby... a whip in his hand.

Barkrarak pointed at the two women.

She held out another one, this one of African Americans being sprayed with fire hoses while riot police stood nearby.

The alien pointed at the African Americans.

Izumi showed him one more photo. A black man in chains stood on a platform, while two white men exchanged money below.

Barkrarak pointed at the black man. "That man is a Waiter," he said with conviction.

Izumi pointed at the other two men, the men selling and buying the black man.

"Who are they?" she asked.

He looked her in the eye. "Consumers."

&&&&&&&&&

As Izumi walked out of the brig, she heard Megumi's voice over the intercom. "All stations, set Condition Two. Repeat, all stations set Condition Two."

She started walking faster, a bad feeling that she might be too late fell over her. She saw Razor turn the corner.

"Where are you going, Ma'am?" he asked. "The Colonel wants us suited up."

"Start without me," she said and started to run.

&&&&&&

"Enough favors the captain of humans has bestowed on us," Ha-Luu told Jun. "Twice our current numbers have arrived to engage the issue firsthand."

Jun nodded. "We shall observe from a safe distance then. Good luck, Captain Ha-Luu."

Ha-Luu bowed as the connection was cut.

"Chase, keep us well out of range," he ordered. "Keep the Aestis on standby."

"Kanchou," Ruri called out. "I'm now reading two more contacts approaching at one-eight-zero."

He nodded. "They're Caregiver ships. Captain Ha-Luu has called in reinforcements." He turned to Aurora. "Ms. Dayne, please record as much data from the exchange as you can."

"Of course!" the young woman replied, adjusting her glasses. "After all, the benefits of seeing two different alien species interact will be invalua..."

Before she could continue, Izumi stepped off the lift. "Jun, I need to talk to you."

"Aren't you supposed to be on the hangar deck, Colonel?" Genechiro asked her.

She ignored the XO and walked up to Jun. "It's important."

"Izumi, the Caregivers are about to engage a Waiter task force," he told her. "As soon as we stand down, I can..."

"I have reason to believe we're making a horrible mistake, Kanchou," she interrupted loudly. "I don't think that's a military force out there. And I don't think the 'Caregivers,'" she made the term a curse, "are telling you the truth!"

Every eye on the bridge was on her now.

Jun bit his lip, just a bit irritated. "You have two minutes," he told her.

Izumi nodded, taking a few precious seconds to gather her thoughts. "We've been taking things for granted," she said. "We assumed from the beginning because the Waiters were the ones attacking the ship that they were the aggressors. I now believe that it's the opposite."

"Based on what, Colonel?" Genechiro asked impatiently.

"Interviews with the prisoner," she said. "Our translators are either too general or too specific. So I did a little linguistic work of my own." She looked Jun dead in the eye. "The word for 'Waiter' doesn't mean someone who pours drinks, Jun," she told him. "It means 'SLAVE.'"

Jun took a sharp breath.

"How can you possibly know that?" Genechiro asked.

"Don't take my word for it!" she shot back, tired of the Jovian's suspicion. "Scan the ships! Talk to Barkrarak! Do SOMETHING! But stop taking what we're seeing at face value!"

"Kanchou, Caregiver ships moving into attack positions," Ruri told them. "They're launching fighters."

Jun pointed to a SF(3) troop at the door. "Bring the prisoner up here. Now!"

"This is a load of garbage," Genechiro snarled. "THEY attacked an unarmed ship! THEY assaulted Mr. Warren and Colonel Rikari! THEY attacked ME!"

"All of which means nothing if we don't know in what context!" Izumi shot back. "From the beginning, we've made assumptions and the Caregivers let us make them!" She turned back to the captain. "They have to see our arrival here as just as important a breakthrough as we do! Something that can shift the history of this solar system forever! They know it! Jun, you are being conned on a level unprecedented in human history!"

Jun stepped over to Aurora. "How detailed a scan can you give me?" he asked her.

"Well," Aurora stammered. "It's...It depends on..."

"I need everything you can tell me about those Waiter ships in the next thirty seconds."

He turned back to Izumi. "If you're right..." he began.

"Kanchou, the Waiter ships have increased speed," Ruri declared. "It looks like they're trying to run."

"They outnumber the Caregiver ships two to one," Megumi noted. "Why would they run?"

At that moment, Barkrarak, escorted by two SF's, stepped onto the bridge. Jun turned to Ruri. "Bring up a tactical display, please." He turned to Izumi. "Translate for him." Behind him, Ruri was placing her translator into her ear.

The display came up, showing the six Waiter ships and the three Caregiver ships approaching them. The result was immediate.

Barkrarak looked to Izumi and started speaking rapidly. He reached out and grabbed her shoulders, causing the SF troops to raise their weapons, but the alien didn't seem to care. He continued speaking, his voice panicked.

"Izumi?" Jun asked.

It took the pilot a minute get through the translation. "He says they're smugglers, Sir," she said. "People smugglers." Barkrarak spoke some more. "He's begging us to help them."

"People smugglers?" Genechiro asked.

"Kanchou!" Aurora called out. "I have a scan."

Jun's eyes didn't leave Barkrarak. "Break it down for me."

"Those ships are packed to the gills with life forms," Aurora said. "And we're reading weaponry, but very little of it."

"Troop carriers," Genechiro concluded.

Aurora shook her head. "I don't think so. The bio-organic scanner is documenting life forms in various stages of development!"

"Meaning?" Chase cued.

"Children," Jun whispered. "She means children." He turned to Megumi. "Get me Ha-Luu."

The alien's voice came over the speaker. "Leader of humans, this period in our personal history is not optimal for casual communications."

"Captain," Jun began. "You must call off your attack. Those ships are not military vessels. They're carrying people."

"They carry Waiters," he heard.

For a moment Jun thought the alien was agreeing with him. Then it dawned on him that Ha-Luu was CORRECTING him.

"Captain, those ships are carrying children," Jun tried again. "They are no match for your ships."

"The engagement shall be concluded with relative quickness and ease, this is correct."

Jun couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ha-Luu went on.

"The rebellious attack on our official must be answered and errant children must be corrected."

"Where we're from, we call that 'murder,'" Jun hissed.

"These ships and peoples do not hail from where you hail," Ha-Luu replied harshly. "No more of this will be heard. Know your place!" The comm link cut out.

"Kanchou, Caregiver fighters are still on attack vector," Ruri told him. "The Waiter ships have launched..." She shook her head. "Three fighters similar to the prisoner's in response."

"Kanchou?"

"Kanchou?"

"Jun?"

At this last prompt, Jun turned to his wife. "Get me Ryoko," he ordered darkly. A moment later, Ryoko's face appeared. She was just putting on her earbuds.

"Jun?"

"Ryoko," He said intently. "Launch everything you've got."

"Roger that!" At that point, Izumi took off for the lift, anxious to get to the flight deck.

He turned away and faced the screen again. "Sound general quarters," he ordered. "Charge all weapons. Chase, move to intercept the main ship. Keep us between the Waiter ships and the Caregiver capital ships."

No one moved for a moment, rooted to the spot in shock.

"Now!" he shouted.

"Moving to intercept, aye aye!" Chase called out, his hands dancing across the helm.

Genechiro walked up to him and spoke into his ear. "What about the rules of engagement?" he asked.

"We're already engaged," Jun hissed back. "Now it's about making things right."

The lights on the bridge turned red.

"All sections report Condition One!" Megumi called out.

Jun grit his teeth.

"Prepare to engage hostiles."

TO BE CONTINUED...

End Notes:

1. A "fruit salad" is the collection of ribbons worn on the left side of military Class A uniforms and are a way to recognize accomplishments in military service. Ribbons range from the most basic and mundane such as the Air Force Basic Training Ribbon worn by every Airmen who passes basic training to the ribbon representing the Congressional Medal of Honor.

2. Executive Officer, second in command of the ship.

3. Security Forces


	6. You'll Never Work in Dis Bidness Again

Oysters and Pearls

Chapter 6

You'll Never Work in Dis Bidness Again

_Nadesico and Jimmy Buffett are not mine. The song, "Desperation Samba" is the property of Jimmy Buffett. Macross, likewise, does not belong to me._

Hideki Amano ran his fingers through his long, dark hair and once again questioned his decision to come here. New Kimberly was the largest city on Io, carved out of long-dormant magma tunnels and volcanoes. Being from Callisto, he was more used to ice floes and water.

But the best engineering school in the Jovian Union was on Io, so he had moved. After spending the first three weeks of school studying, his friend, Jonah, had dragged him into the city.

"I'm not so sure about this," he told his friend. "We could get into trouble."

Jonah gave him a wicked grin. "Come on! You said you wanted to see them!"

Hideki bit his lip. He HAD said that, hadn't he?

"Besides, they're harmless," Jonah assured him. The two were working their way through the sizable crowd of people who had gathered in this abandoned tunnel.

"I gue..." Before Hideki could finish, there was a commotion up front. "What is it?"

Someone nearby heard him and answered. "It's her," the woman whispered. "Yuriko Akagi."

"Who?" Hideki asked. In front of them, several men in replicas of UN Spacy uniforms were leading someone through the crowd.

The woman he was talking to looked at him as if he had asked if the sky was green. "Yuriko Akagi," she said again as if that were supposed to answer everything. "She's the direct descendent of Marii Ijima. She's one of the high priestesses."

"They say she's a seer," Jonah snorted. "Macrossians will believe anything, I guess."

"It's true!" the woman replied with exuberance. "She can see the future! She's predicted a war with the Earthers!"

"Sure she did," Jonah replied snidely.

Hideki was so enthralled by the conversation, he didn't notice that the entourage had come up on them and was passing by. The engineering student saw a woman in her thirties with short, black hair surrounded by the uniformed men.

Just as they were passing, the woman raised her right hand, motioning the men to stop. She turned, and her eyes locked with Hideki's.

"Jonah," Hideki hissed as the woman walked towards him.

Jonah did nothing but watch as the Macrossian leaned forward and took Hideki's face in her hands. Moving close, she kissed his forehead and whispered to him.

"You will..."

Hideki's eyes shot open as the alert klaxon went off, interrupting his dream.

"GENERAL QUARTERS!" he heard Megumi's voice announce. "All sections set Condition One!"

Grabbing his pants off the back of his chair, Hideki bolted out the door and ran to the engineering section.

When he arrived, he spared half a second to pull his pants on before taking his station in front of the main engineering interface.

"What's going on!" he asked.

An Earther engineer turned to him as two grasshoppers ran up and down the ceiling of the main corridor, accessing jeffries tubes. "We're about to duke it out with three alien ships!"

Hideki nodded. "All right, watch the coolant balance and start funneling power to the distortion field power reservoir." As he turned to his work, the seer's final message to him reverberated in his ear, reminding him once again of his true mission.

He was close, and he knew it.

---------------------------------

Megumi covered her earpiece and turned to Jun. "All Aestivalis and Gekigangars have launched," she announced. "Ryoko is holding on Alpha Channel."

Jun put his earpiece in. "Pit Boss, this is Nadesico Actual. Intercept Caregiver fighters and engage. Protect the Waiter vessels and give them time to escape."

"Rules of engagement?" Ryoko asked.

"Arm and fire at your discretion."

"Roger that!" He heard Ryoko link to the other robots in her wing. "Listen up! Engage Caregiver fighters at two-one-five! Attack pattern 'Razzle-Dazzle!'"

The bridge crew watched on the viewscreen as the two robot squadrons took off for the Waiter fleet.

"Kanchou," Ruri spoke up. "Caregiver capital ships at one-five-zero coming about. I'm detecting energy build-ups in their bows. Could be weapons charging."

"Distortion field to full," Genechiro ordered. "Power gravity blast cannon."

"Gravity blast charging!" Ruri replied. She turned to Jun. "Kanchou, there's no evidence to suggest our weapons will have the same effect as back in our solar system."

"They don't need to know that," he replied. "Rack the shotgun, Ruri. Chase, move the ship around their port side," Jun ordered. "Give us a firing solution that won't strike our fighters or the Waiter fleet."

Chase's hands danced over the con. "Coming to two-two-zero, all ahead flank," he announced.

"They're firing!" Ruri announced.

Pink lines of energy lashed out from the three ships, striking the Nadesico dead on. Unlike lasers and gravity blast cannons, the Caregiver weapons weren't deflected off, but absorbed by the field, causing the deck to lurch beneath Jun's feet.

"Direct hit, deck six," Ruri announced, not looking up from her screen. "Distortion field at eighty-five percent."

"Do we have a firing solution on the Caregiver ships yet?" Genechiro demanded.

"We're in position," Chase told him. "Let it rip!"

"Fire!" Jun ordered.

"Firing," Ruri repeated.

The bridge crew watched as the mammoth gravity blast that had become Nadesico's hallmark during the Jovian War leaped at the three gemstones hanging in space. Smoke plumes engulfed the ships...

And cleared a moment later to find the ships virtually undamaged.

"Uh... oh..." Chase said softly.

"Minor damage to all three targets," Ruri announced.

"We might have a problem," Genechiro declared.

---------------------------------

Ryoko grunted and flexed the muscles in her thighs(1) as she brought her Aesti into a sharp climb. Behind her, pink laser blasts shot past her cockpit. Hissing, she kicked her robot's right leg out and hit the thruster, bouncing her craft into a vertical climb. The Caregiver fighter shot beneath her, and she straightened out again.

She watched the diamond-shaped vessel try to turn and matched it. The alien ships were faster than Aestis, but lacked the maneuverability. Switching to guns, she lined the reticule of her cannon up and depressed the trigger. The twenty-millimeter slugs ripped into the ship, most of them bouncing off, but a few making good hits. She swore and lifted her finger off the trigger, wary of melting her gun.

Jamming on the retros, she dropped back far enough for a missile hit and switched to Cottonmouths. Her weapons systems blared a tone, and she fired, the ship to ship missile dropping out of the compartment in the robot's upper arm and streaking forward.

The diamond ship exploded spectacularly. At least something worked. As long as they had enough missiles, they should be okay.

An Aestivalis came up beside her, taking up a wingman position, but a moment later, one of the Caregiver's pink lasers struck it. Ryoko blinked, dumfounded. Rather than explode, the entire robot was ... changed. Instead of metal and composites, a crystal statue in the shape of an Aesti floated by.

"Shit," Ryoko swore. Rolling right and pulling up hard, she went in search of the alien fighter that had just done that.

------------------------------

The deck lurched again.

"Distortion field at sixty-two percent," Ruri called out. The Caregiver ships, sensing their own invulnerability, didn't bother breaking formation, content to sit there and pound away at the Nadesico.

"What about another blast from the gravity cannon?" Chase asked.

Aurora shook her head as she quickly adjusted a small, stainless steel calculating wheel in her fingers. "The crystal lattice structure of the ships is too dense," she said. "Another blast won't... Ah ha!" she finished. She ran over to Ruri's station.

"Ruri, tighten the diameter of the gravity blast cannon to two meters and aim for this point on the ship to the left!" she ordered, pointing at a section on that ship's bow.

Ruri didn't waste time asking why's and wherefor's. "Diameter adjusted. Gravity blast ready," she announced.

"Fire," Jun ordered.

A concentrated line of energy shot out and struck the Caregiver ship dead on.

"Gravity blast emitters are approaching red line temperature," Ruri announced.

"Don't stop!" Aurora called out.

At first, nothing seemed to happen, then small, glowing cracks started to appear on the gem's bow, spiderwebbing across the entire ship.

"She's going to overheat," Chase announced as his monitor started beeping.

"Just a few more seconds," Aurora urged.

The cracks glowed brighter, and finally, fire spread through them, engulfing the entire ship.

"Target one destroyed!" Ruri announced.

Off to the side, almost forgotten until now, Barkrarak struck the wall in triumph and gave a happy bark. A Caregiver warship in flames was something no Waiter had ever seen before and until now was sure could never be.

"Well, I hope you liked it," Hideki said, his face appearing in a comm window next to Jun. "Because the GB is overheated. I can't give you another shot like that for at least an hour."

The ship lurched to the right.

"Looks like they're still willing to fight," Jun muttered. "Chase, right full rudder! Twenty degree down angle on the bow thrusters. Firing crews prepare to fire."

The ship lurched again.

"Kanchou, we're losing the distortion field!" Ruri announced.

Aurora backed away from Ruri's station, her mind racing to find another way to help. Without realizing it, she backed into something furry.

"Eep," she squeaked. Turning slowly and looking up, she saw Barkrarak standing there. Without a sound, he put a translator on her head.

"You will assist I in leaving this space vessel," he told her.

--------------------------------------

"Razor! Torch! Turn to zero-two-five!" Izumi ordered, leading the element around. Three of the Caregiver fighters were making missile runs on one of the Waiter capital ships. Coming around behind them, she listened for the tone, and sent two Cottonmouths at the ships. The other Aestis did the same, and the three alien ships exploded.

All in all, the Aestis and the Gekigangars were holding their own. The Earth robots were having some trouble getting their cannons to do any serious damage, but the more heavily-armed Jovians were tearing into Caregivers with a fury Izumi hadn't seen before. Izumi had a feeling that fighting on behalf of escaping slaves appealed to the Jovians' more self-righteous impulses.

Her radio crackled, and she heard something she couldn't quite make out.

"This is Blackjack One," she announced on that channel. "Identify yourself."

A few more crackles, then a voice she never expected in a million years. "I is Barkrarak," she heard. "Preparing to depart."

Ryoko's face appeared in the comm window. "What the fuck?" she demanded.

"Northern Lights Large Red Dog has supplied me with a pinprick of sub-cellular mechanical devices designed..."

"Okay, I get it!" Izumi declared, jinking sharply right to avoid a crystalline blast. "Where are you now?"

"Cocooned within a man-shaped device."

"HE'S IN A GODDAMN AESTI?" Ryoko screamed. "ARE YOU SHITTING ME!"

"Green lights are plentiful," the Waiter declared. "This bodes well, correct?"

Izumi licked her lips and made a decision. "Correct," she told him. "Wait until all the lights are green, then stand on the bright 'X' in front of the launch tube."

"Are you nuts!" Ryoko screamed.

"I am in the correct position," Barkrarak announced.

Megumi's face appeared in another comm window. Judging by the people rushing around in the background, Izumi knew they were in the fight of their lives over there.

"Blackjack One, who is in that Aestivalis?"

"I am Barkrarak," the canine announced. "Second Officer of the Rufara Battalion, requests authorization to launch and combat!"

"Absolutely no..."

"Launch him out, Megumi!" Izumi told her over Ryoko's objection.

"Uh..." The young woman looked unsure, looking to her right to get orders from someone off camera. The deck lurched beneath them. "Um... Roger! Permission granted to launch from Tube Two... um... Blackjack Thirteen." She shrugged.

Barkrarak howled as the catapult launched him from the Nadesico. Izumi turned left and kicked in the afterburner. "Razor, let's give him some cover until he gets his feet wet."

"Roger that!"

--------------------------------

"Ruri, channel auxiliary and emergency power through the forward distortion field emitter," Jun ordered. "Chase, full rudder left, ten degree down angle. I want our nose pointed right at that Caregiver ship! All ahead flank!"

"We're going to RAM them!" Genechiro asked, aghast. "Have you lost your mind?"

Jun ignored him as the starboard side of the crystal ship filled the viewscreen. "Order port gun crews to stand by." Pink energy lances shot out, striking the distortion field in front of them.

"Caregiver ship, six thousand meters and closing," Ruri announced. "Forward distortion field at sixty-four percent." The deck lurched again. "Fifty-two percent, and five thousand meters!"

"Captain, this isn't the way!" Genechiro hissed at him. "We can withdraw and regroup! Or... Or... Order the Gekigangars to attack!"

Jun ignored him. "Chase, increase speed. Fifteen percent above flank."

"Aye aye," Chase cried, gritting his teeth. The Nadesico shot ahead.

"Three thousand meters and closing REALLY fast!" Ruri shouted over her shoulder.

Chase cringed and wondered what, "HOLY SHIT, THEY'RE GOING TO RAM US!" sounded like in Wei-Hu's musical language. He imagined there were a lot of people on that crystal frigate screaming it right now.

"TWO THOUSAND METERS!" Ruri cried.

"YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US ALL!" Genechiro screamed.

Jun bit his lip, watching the crystal ships lasers strike the distortion field.

"KANCHOU!"

"ONE THOUSAND METERS!"

Jun waited half a second, then shouted, "RIGHT FULL RUDDER! ALL BACK ON THE STARBOARD THRUSTERS!"

Chase hurried to comply with the commands. The Nadesico started skidding , turning to the right. All of the guns on the left side of the ship, now faced the crystal ship point-blank and unmolested.

"PORT BATTERIES FIRE FOR EFFECT!" Jun shouted. "FIRE!"

Every gun on the left side of the Nergal vessel opened fire. While the gravity blast and transpositional cannons had seen more use in the Jovian War, the Nadesico's conventional armaments, the ten-inch particle cannons, the five inch rail guns and the Mongoose and Redhawk missile launchers, were nothing to laugh at either.

As a matter of fact, fired all at once, the guns recoil moved the Nadesico to the right, away from the crystal ship, which was practically shredded by the concentrated blast fired so close to them. Although officially still in one piece, the fires raging through the ship's hull could be seen on the viewscreen.

"Wow," Chase breathed.

"Target two destroyed," Ruri announced, regaining her composure. She smiled. "Target three is turning away and moving at flank speed."

Megumi spoke up from her station. "Ryoko says the fighters are breaking off. Do you want them to pursue?"

"No," Jun breathed, trying to get control of his heartbeat. "Where are the Waiters?"

Ruri shook her head. "They're moving away at flank speed," she said.

"Guess they don't want to thank us," Chase muttered.

Genechiro, up until now his mouth hanging open in shock, finally got control of himself. "Where did you learn to do THAT?" he asked.

Jun actually smiled. "The Academy," he said. "I saw Yurika do it in a combat simulation. She called it a Misumaru Kick Stand."

Megumi chuckled softly. "Sounds like something she'd do."

Jun allowed himself a nostalgic moment before turning back to the bridge crew. "Set condition two throughout the ship," she said. "I want a damage report from all sections, and send out the SAR(2) birds to pick up our ejected pilots and wounded robots."

"Then what?" Genechiro asked.

Jun shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"I got a feeling we're going to want to BLOW UP that bridge when we get to it," Chase muttered under his breath.

-----------------------------------

The feet of Izumi's robot finally touched the flight deck, and she maneuvered it toward her assigned holding rack. Looking up as she powered down, she saw the crew chiefs directing Barkrarak's robot to its own rack. She shook her head in mild shock. She had had a feeling about Barkrarak's piloting ability from the moment they first engaged, but the fact that he was able to land safely AFTER making two kills on his first flight in a robot astonished her.

The hatch popped open, and she climbed out, heading toward Ryoko's office where she KNEW the teal-haired woman would be waiting. As if on cue, the canine alien dropped into step beside and slightly behind her.

Ryoko, still in her flight suit, was speaking to Jun on the comm window when they walked in.

"Lost Scorch and Stifler from our guys and Flight Lieutenant Rhoodie from the Jovian side," she told him. "I need some time to go through the gun cameras, but it looked like the Jovian robots had a better time of it. I think until we have a better handle on things, Rikari's boys should pull alert duty."

Jun nodded. "Keep me updated." The comm window went blank, and Ryoko took a breath.

"Where should I start?" she asked herself with a wiry grin. "Oh wait, I know," she said suddenly turning to face Izumi. "How about by asking, 'WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!'"

"I don't know, Ryoko," Izumi said tiredly.

"What on earth made you think for a moment that letting an alien prisoner pilot an Aestivalis into combat was in any way acceptable?" she asked, genuinely stunned. "He can't even read the HUD(3)!"

"He can't cook either, but not everyone's perfect," Izumi replied.

It was the wrong thing to say. Just like any other even vague mention of Akito Tenkawa was the wrong thing to say.

Ryoko bit her lip. Turning her head, she saw Barkrarak standing at attention and for the first time realized what she was looking at. "And you!" she cried. "Why are you standing there like you're one of my pilots instead of sitting on your ass in the brig!"

Barkrarak didn't understand a lot of what the wing king said, but it didn't deter him. "Leader of warriors," he rumbled. "I offer this pilot's skills to you and yours in continued aggression against the Consumers."

Ryoko, not wearing a translator, turned to Izumi. "What did he say?"

"He wants a job," Izumi said simply.

"This warrior will combat and terminate himself if called for in the service of mammals aboard this propeller," Barkrarak swore.

Ryoko looked to Izumi expectantly.

"Said he'll work for tips," Izumi translated.

"Well, I'd finally be able to pay a pilot what they're actually worth," Ryoko said snidely. "Fortunately, what happens to him isn't my decision. He's Jun's problem."

"He made two kills," Izumi told her.

Ryoko arched an eyebrow. "He was only out there ten minutes," she noted.

Izumi only nodded.

"Well, I'm sure Jun has better things for him to do. Get him back to the brig." She sat down behind her desk.

Izumi said nothing for a long moment, then saluted and turned on her heel. The Waiter followed her.

"I am not to battle on this propeller's behalf then?" he asked her.

"Give it time," she told him as they entered the lift. "This ship has a habit of pulling pilots in off the street."

Barkrarak bobbled an affirmative. As the lift stopped at the brig level, Barkrarak made to step off the lift. Izumi stopped him.

Reaching across her chest to her left arm, Izumi pulled the 45th SCS patch from her flight suit. She handed it to him.

Looking down at the image, the canine wondered at the historical or religious significance of a bipedal, black and white cat wearing a coon-skin cap and holding a rifle(4). Perhaps it was one of the humans' gods?

"As far as I'm concerned," Izumi told him. "You're Blackjack 13 until Jun says otherwise."

Barkrarak bobbled an affirmative and stood straighter. Lifting his right paw, he imitated the salute he saw in Ryoko's office as best he could. Izumi smiled.

"Okay," she said. "Back in the brig before the SFs get nervous."

The Waiter stepped off the lift, and Izumi continued to smile.

--------------------------------------------

Kim Tencza sat behind her desk and tapped her pencil on the desktop. Sitting in a chair that was deliberately too small, Jun waited for her to speak. After all, she had been the one to "invite" him down to speak with her.

"So," she said finally. "Blowing up alien ships. That's how you peacefully explore the galaxy, is it? Killing aliens... That's really going to spur trade, huh?"

Jun was uncowed. "I don't think you see the big picture here..."

"No, what I see is the prelude to an intergalactic war," she bit out. She tapped her pencil harder.

Then it broke, and she stood up, turning to look out the window at the wreckage that surrounded the ship. "Your mission was to explore Epsilon Eridani, make peaceful contact with its inhabitants and begin negotiations for diplomatic and commercial ties! Instead, you went on the warpath!"

The captain was about to bring up the obvious moral complications but stopped himself. He had never met a Nergal proctor who didn't worship the bottom line. That was her primary concern.

"PR," he said.

She turned. "Pardon?"

"PR," he repeated. "Unless you see Nergal stock going up when word got out that your interstellar trading partners were slavers."

Kim thought for a moment, and he egged her on.

"How much do you think you could sell that tennis shoe for when people learn it was sewn together by an oppressed race struggling to be free?"

She sat down again. "You are going to make this right," she told him simply.

"I thought I was," he said deadpan.

"If we can't have relations with one, we'll settle for the other," she told him. "You need to make contact with these primitives, these Waiters."

Jun arched an eyebrow. "They're pretty low-tech," he warned her.

It was her turn to smile. "Never underestimate the primitive world," she told him. "Sometimes the simple things are the most valuable. Hell, the cure for AIDS turned out to be a weed growing in some backyard in South Africa."

His eyes narrowed wearily. "Does Nergal ever get tired of exploiting people?"

She snorted. "You should have seen what the company got away with back when we were still called 'Umbrella.'" Grinning, her anger seemingly forgotten, she slapped the desktop. "Besides, you want to make contact with them too, right? Two birds, one shotgun!"

Jun sighed wearily and rose from his chair. "We'll go look for them, but only because it's the right thing to do."

"Of course! Of course!" Kim told him happily. "Good luck!"

-----------------------------------

"Sure enough," Ryoko sighed. "That's how Scorch and Stifler(5) bought it." Standing up, she turned from the crystallized shoulder of Scorch's Aestivalis and faced Hideki. "They melted their cannons and used up all their missiles. They were sitting ducks."

The two were in one of the hangar bays, going over the wreckage for clues to just how the two Aesti pilots and Gekigangar pilot had died.

Hideki nodded. "The hulls of those fighters are extremely dense. They literally don't need distortion fields."

Ryoko started for the lift. "We need a way around that," she told him. "If the Vulcan doesn't work, you can bet the fifties won't."

Hideki smiled. "I have a couple of ideas," he said mysteriously. "Let me and the girls work on it for a bit."

The wing king entered the lift. "If you can make it happen, I'll owe you," she said. The lift doors closed.

"Yes you will," Hideki murmured.

----------------------------------------

Jun had just enough time to flop into the chair at his desk before his wife's face appeared in a window before him.

"Jun chan, Wei-Hu is here."

"Could you bring her in, please?" he requested, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. He picked up a translator off his desk and fixed it to his ear. The door to his office opened, and Megumi entered, holding Wei-Hu's hand.

Jun put a smile on and stood up, walking around his desk and kneeling in front of the alien girl.

"Wei-Hu, I need to tell you something that's going to be hard to understand, okay?" he said.

The girl looked at him with apprehension. Megumi stood behind her, resting her hands on her shoulders reassuringly.

"Captain Haa-Lu and I had a fight," he said, trying to keep things simple. "We're very angry with each other, and his ship left."

The girl's eyes widened in fright as the translation went through.

"It's all right," Jun said quickly. "We're not going to hurt you. You're going to be our guest until we can find one of your ships to take you home. Until then, nothing is going to change. Do you understand?"

"Will I continue to be permission to listen to the harmonic vibrations in your gathering place?" she asked.

Jun muddled through the translation and smiled. "Yes, Wei-Hu. I think we can arrange that." He stood up. "And I'm sure Ruri would like to keep talking with you, okay?"

Wei-Hu gave him a short curtsy. Jun gave Megumi a nod, and the comm officer took the alien girl out.

Taking his seat again, Jun let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He hated seeing the innocent set adrift by war. He'd certainly seen enough of it. He resolved to make certain the little girl got home one way or another.

--------------------------------------

"So now what?" Genechiro asked, taking his seat at the conference room table. "Somehow I doubt we'd be welcome at the Caregiver homeworld."

"We have a course already," Jun announced, taking his own seat nonchalantly. The rest of the bridge crew looked at him stunned. Jun wasn't the kind of commander to issue decrees without hearing counsel from his senior staff.

"Uh... Okay, where to, Skipper?" Chase asked.

The captain clicked on the smartboard behind him. "The SWACS has been tracking the Waiter fleet and has projected a course to this moon in orbit around a gas giant."

"We're going to make contact with a Waiter world, then?" Ryoko asked.

Jun nodded. "We can't just sit here and wait for the Caregivers to muster up another task force and come after us. And we still have a mandate to explore this system." He turned to Chase. "How long at ship's standard?" he asked.

Chase chewed his lip for a moment in thought. "Three weeks, give or take."

The captain turned to Hideki and Ryoko. "That should give you plenty of time to come up with a solution to our ammunition problem."

"I may already have one," Hideki told him. "Ask me again tomorrow."

"I'll hold you to it." He stood up. "In the meantime, there's someone I have to talk to. I'm told there's a get-together in the Club tonight. Go have some fun."

The bridge crew smiled and stood to go.

"You going to come?" Megumi asked him.

"Eventually,' he said, taking his wife's hand. "There's something I have to do first."

------------------------------------

Barkrarak studied the patch in his hand again, thinking hard on his decision. What he was considering was a huge gamble, one with no sure guarantee of success. But that was nothing new. For years his people had fought with no hope of success. Only a few colonies out of dozens spread throughout the system had any success at all in keeping the Consumers at bay.

The Consumers had the edge in technology, a technology the Waiters were physically incapable of using or imitating, and their own war machines were all but useless against them. Consumer harvest ships plundered Waiter moons at will, while fewer and fewer warriors stood against them.

But these people, the Strangers, their weapons were far more advanced. Even the Consumers failed to stand against them, despite having greater numbers. They were technologically advanced, well-trained, disciplined, motivated...

They COULD beat the Consumers. The Waiters could NOT.

As the Beta of his battalion, Barkrarak was privy to information the rest of his people were not. He had seen the reports that were hidden from the others, heard the words from their own generals.

Six months.

His people could fight for six more months. After that, there would be literally nothing left to fight with and no one left to try.

He snapped out of his thoughts as the brig door opened and the Stranger in the white uniform stepped inside. Waving the guards away, he opened the door to his cell and seemed to hesitate for a moment before finally stepping inside and sitting across from him.

Handing Barkrarak a translator, he spoke.

"Izumi told me you want to help us."

The canine bobbled his head. "My edged weapon is placed to your service for the duration of the Strangers' combativeness with the Consumers."

"You are willing to give us information about the Caregivers?" Jun asked.

"If knowledge is purposed toward battle against the Consumers," he rumbled. "Offer it freely I will."

"Why?"

Barkrarak was taken aback. "I will battle," he said. "Because battle is needed." He leaned forward, snout to nose with Jun. "I am abled to fly, to fight. I will battle on your behalf if you will battle on mine."

"There is a Caregiver child on this ship," Jun told him. "You will not harm her if I release you?"

Barkrarak snorted indignantly. "Murdering young is Consumer work."

The captain looked at him seriously. "We are not here to fight your war for you," he said straight out. "We want peace."

"Peace is what?" the canine asked. "For Consumers to recognize peace is for Waiters to be subjugation."

Jun shook his head. "We want your people to be free and the Consumers to be free. For there to be no more fighting, no more reasons to fight."

Barkrarak was silent for a moment. "We wish only to be left alone."

Jun thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright." Standing, he opened the door again and gestured for the canine to precede him.

He stood up. "I will battle alongside the Blackbird?"

Jun smiled. "Not yet. Right now, we need information. Come with me."

--------------------------------

The atmosphere in the Nadesico Club was happy and electric as alcohol of every form and from every world in the Sol System was passed around. Up on stage, Chase was playing guitar with someone from Services who played keyboard.

Sitting at a table near the stage, Wei-Hu looked around in frank interest. "They are different in coverings," she noted to Ruri.

Ruri took a sip of her strawberry soda and nodded. "Do your people not change clothes?"

"Our coverings change daily," she said. "I was simply unsure if yours did."

The door opened and Ruri arched an eyebrow. "Often to extremes," she noted.

Following her glance, Wei-Hu saw Ryoko walk in wearing her blue, tropical dress. "She appears as flora. Does those coverings have purpose?"

Seeing the eyes of the men in the room follow the teal-haired robot commander, Ruri couldn't help but acknowledge the purpose.

Also noticing the colonel's entrance, Megumi waved her over. "Trying to impress someone?" she asked coyly.

Ryoko looked around the room. "You could say that." Her eyes came to rest on Rikari, standing with a group of Jovians on the other side of the room.

Megumi followed her gaze and shook her head. "Don't tell me you're still trying to prove there's something wrong with Colonel Rikari!"

"If this doesn't get his attention, nothing will!" Ryoko told her, holding a fist up. She stormed over to the stage where Chase was getting ready for another song.

"Hey, dillweed!" she called up. "Play something we can dance to!"

Chase whistled. "If you're dancing in that, you've got it!"

Ryoko shot him a lead-melting look.

"Ma'am!" he added in response. Ryoko stalked off and Chase started to play something faintly Latin.

Ryoko reached out and grabbed Rikari's hand, pulling her onto the dance floor.

"Halloween in Tijuana, full moon in my eyes,

I wonder how the hell I got here, without a disguise,

Should I take this last step, or turn myself around,

Or follow my intuition, into that border town."

"What is she doing?" Aurora asked Megumi as Ryoko whirled the other colonel around the dance floor like a rag doll.

Megumi sighed. "Something brash and stupid," she replied.

"Yo quiero a bailar Mexico!

Do the Desperation Samba con nos amigo

Yo quiero, a bailar Mexico!

Do the Desperation Samba con nos amigo"

"Colonel Subaru," Rikari began, "I'm not sure..."

"Come on!" Ryoko shot back. "Even Jovians dance, right!"

He's got to show a little interest this time, Ryoko thought. If not, he might really be an android like Jun said. She grabbed Rikari's hands and put them square on her hips, well within striking distance of her ass.

Rikari did her best not to react. Part of the price of pretending to be a man was sometimes being placed in situations that at best made her uncomfortable. Realizing what was expected of her, she took the lead, spinning the wing king around and dipping her.

Taken by surprise, Ryoko gasped.

Watching from their table, Wei-Hu tapped Ruri's shoulder. "The beginning endeavour of primitive mating customs?" she asked.

"No," Ruri told her nonchalantly. She pointed at a man and a woman at a nearby table, drinking heavily. "That is the beginning of a mating ritual." She pointed back at Ryoko and Rikari. "That's two uncoordinated bakas pretending to dance."

Time to kick it up a notch, Ryoko thought. She brought her right leg up, wrapping it around Rikari's waist.

"Oh my!" Aurora noted. "You know, Miss Megumi, this reminds me of that great scene you did in 'Valiant Vixen Trampsy' where..."

Turning bright red, Megumi clapped a hand over the scientist's mouth. "YesIthinkIrememberthatone!Haveanotherdrink!"

Ryoko leaned back, her head nearly touching the floor, her leg tightening on the Colonel's waist.

Then the song ended.

Ryoko hit the ground with a thud as the crowd applauded. She felt Rikari's hand take hers and help her to her feet.

"Well, that was fun," Rikari noted blandly. "We'll have to do that again some time. Excuse me." Without giving her a chance to reply, Rikari was blending back into the crowd.

"Yeah," Ryoko said...

... almost wistfully.

----------------------------------

Jun was jotting down notes at the desk in their quarters when he felt hands rest on his shoulders. Reaching up to take one of them, he heard Megumi ask him where he'd been.

"Taking care of a few things," he said with a smile.

"You missed a good party," she said.

"Hmm," he replied.

Seeing his distraction, she looked over his shoulder to see what he was doing and sighed. "Jun chan, you don't have to write those now. It's late, why don't you come to bed?"

Jun didn't turn away from the three letters he was trying to simultaneously write. "Scorch had a wife," he said simply. "Stifler's mother lives in Detroit, and Lieutenant Rhoodie has parents on Io."

"Jun, with the translight transmitter out of whack, even if you sent those letters tonight, they wouldn't get to Earth or Io for thirty years," Megumi told him quietly. "They can wait a day."

He turned to her as if he hadn't heard what she said. "Do you think their families will understand?"

Megumi took a sad breath.

"I mean, I'm trying to tell them their deaths meant something, but no matter how I phrase it, it sounds so hollow."

"I'm sure they would," she said, just trying to reassure him.

He looked straight into her eyes. "If it were me out there, would you?"

Her breath caught in her throat as a flood of bad memories jumped to the surface. "Once upon a time," she whispered hauntingly. "It WAS you."

Jun realized his mistake and turned away. "I'm sorry," he said.

"And I DID understand," she continued. "I understood and I hated you for it." Her voice grew angrier as those old memories surfaced in force. "And I hated Yurika for letting you go, and I hated Ryoko for not taking Izumi and Hikaru to look for you, and I hated everyone on this goddamn ship for trying to pretend you never existed so it would be easier for THEM!"

Jun took her hands and pulled her into him as she started to cry. As a rule, she never spoke about what happened during the time he was missing. She didn't want to add to his own pain. She never told him how difficult it was for her to hold onto hope when the rest of the crew considered him dead. Or how she sat at his funeral and watched as the UE honor guard gave a folded flag to his mother, how she couldn't bear to introduce herself because she couldn't think of what to say.

"Shhh," Jun cooed. "It's okay. I'm sorry."

"But I always understood," she said. "You've always had that devotion."

He reached over and turned off the desk light. "Let's go to bed," he said.

She wiped her tears away and smiled. "Okay."

------------------------------------

Scarf adjusted her cowboy hat and winked. "Tomorrow night, 'kay?"

Chase smiled. "Don't be late."

The RJ pilot turned and started off. Chase returned to the task of putting the sound equipment away.

"Exactly how are you going to make that date with your extra duty?" Ruri asked.

The musician jumped in surprise and turned to see Ruri and Wei-Hu standing there. "Jesus Herbert-Walker Christ, Ruri!" he said. "Don't sneak up on me."

"I thought you were peeling potatoes," she continued.

Chase grimaced. "Yeah, the Potatomatron 8000 malfunctioned and tried to make war on mankind, but I figure maybe Houmei will let me go early."

"Don't count on that," Ruri told him. "Ms. Houmei doesn't even let the cooks she LIKES leave work early."

Thoughts of the blonde RJ pilot saving a horse and riding a cowboy began to wash away like potato peels down the garbage disposal. "Crap," he muttered.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance?"

"Holy...!" Chase cried turning again. "You people trying to give me a heart attack!"

Hideki smiled. "I was just thinking I might be able to help."

"How?" Ruri asked.

"Well, I could put the Potatomatron repair work order on a high-priority list," he mused. "Probably have it repaired and working by tomorrow morning."

Wei-Hu said something in her own musical language. Ruri translated for her.

"She wants to know what's in it for you," she said.

"Wow, didn't take long for you to turn her into a cynic, did it?" Chase asked.

Hideki only smiled. "I admit, there is something you can do for me, Mister Warren," he said. "I need someone to play my anime viewing this week. Think if I managed to shake you free, you'd be up for that?"

"Sure!" Chase said, genuinely enthused. "You know my motto! No gig too geeky!"

The bald engineer slapped him on the back. "Excellent! I'll put that work order in." He turned to go.

Yes, very close indeed...

_End Notes:_

_1. High G turns in fighters can cause blood loss to the brain. Pilots of modern fighters make use of "G suits" which have bladders at certain points that inflate with air when the plane detects high-g turns. Even so, the technology requires a little help, and fighter pilots will flex different muscles at different points, often starting with the legs, in order to force blood into the brain. It's this reason that civilians who receive rides in high-performance fighters are often drop-dead tired at the end of the ride despite not having actually done anything._

_2. Search And Rescue_

_3. Heads Up Display_

_4. The 45th Reconnaissance Squadron on which Izumi's squadron is based boasts Looney Tunes' Sylvester the cat on their squadron patch. A picture can be found here. http/www.offutt.af.mil/55thWing/55OG/45rs/45rs.htm_

_5. Stifler is the callsign of a fighter pilot in the 27th Fighter Squadron, Langley AFB, VA. He received the callsign because his pilot friends think "his mom is hot."_


	7. Quietly Making Noise

Disclaimer: Nadesico is not mine. "Uncle John's Band" is the property of Jimmy Buffett.

Oysters and Pearls:

Chapter 7

Quietly Making Noise

"'Ask me again tomorrow,'" Ryoko quoted almost snidely. "That was three days ago."

Hideki smiled, nearly giddy with self-congratulation as he waved the wing commander into a seat in the hangar bay's maintenance lock. "To be fair, there were some ... personnel issues ... that I had to deal with and perhaps you can help me with that once this demonstration is over."

Jun took his own seat next to Genechiro and waited patiently. "You must be onto something really impressive if you're pulling out all the stops."

The engineer rushed to a control panel as three maintainers wheeled in a section of what appeared to be a Caregiver fighter. The edges of the crystal were blackened from the extreme heat of the explosion that tore it apart, but the rest looked perfect without even a scratch to hint at wear and tear.

The maintainers wheeled in a second piece of fighter, and from the other end of the bay a ground-attack Aestivalis sporting a 20 millimeter heavy sniper rifle walked in.

"Lieutenant McKernan volunteered to help with this demo," Hideki said, gesturing to the green and brown mottled Aesti. McKernan's callsign was "Dimes," earned in basic when he bet his drill instructor he could shoot the head out of a dime at fifty meters. The drill sergeant took him up on it. McKernan only smiled, lifted the assault rifle they were training with and shot Ronald Reagan right out of the coin.

Twice.

Hideki tapped a few keys on the control pad, and a miniature distortion field appeared in front of them, separating the commanders from the Aesti and the fighters. The engineer strolled back to them, taking something out of his pocket and handing it to Jun.

"His first shot will be with the standard-issue, twenty-millimeter armor piercing round," he said, offering the bullet to Jun. The captain hefted the hunk of metal appreciatively. The pointed end of that round could smash through three feet of steel.

Dimes chambered a round and lifted the rifle. Ryoko was the only one with enough sense to put her fingers in her ears. The rifle roared, and the bullet struck the fighter dead on, ricocheting off and bouncing around the maintenance bay twice before embedding itself in the hull.

"As you can see, only a small chip was made in the fighter," Hideki said.

"We know this already," Genechiro bit out. "Do you have a solution or not?"

The engineer, however, would not be denied his show. "Now," he said grandly. "Lieutenant McKernan will switch to our NEW ammo."

The Aesti switched magazines and chambered a new round. He aimed at the second Caregiver fighter and fired.

The crystal shattered on impact.

Ryoko blinked. "WHOO!" she finally commented.

"Uh, wow!" Jun said. "What did you do?"

Hideki smiled and pulled a second bullet from his jacket pocket. The tip of this one shone in the light. "It occurred to me that engineering for the Caregivers might not be so different from engineering for us."

"Meaning?" Genechiro asked.

He handed the bullet to Jun and turned to face the Jovian. "We don't use the same metal for everything," he explained. "Sometimes we need something light, sometimes something dense. It's the same for them. I took some of their recovered fighters and found the densest type of crystal onboard, which I found surrounding their engine cores. Then I used a geologic laser cutter to cut them into bullets. Voila!"

Jun was speechless. "Hideki, this is above and beyond."

"Don't get excited yet, Sir," he warned. "There's a couple of issues."

"Like what?" Ryoko asked.

"It takes a long time to make these, and we can only make them as long as we have Caregiver fighters to harvest."

"What can you give me?" Ryoko asked seriously.

Hideki thought for a moment. "Give me two weeks and I can outfit the alert birds with some. Say ... one round in thirty."

"So what are you waiting for?" Genechiro asked.

"That brings me to my personnel problem..." he began.

Before he could go further, Megumi's face appeared on a comm window in front of them. "Jun, the SWACS has picked up something you're going to want to see."

"Dangerous?" Jun asked.

"No... Just kind of weird," Megumi elaborated.

"I'm on my way." He turned to Ryoko and Genechiro. "Help Hideki resolve whatever problem he has with the ammo," he ordered. "I want our alert birds armed up as soon as possible."

Ryoko nodded. "You got it."

As Jun walked off, Ryoko got down to business. "Okay, Hideki, what's the deal?"

"There's a problem getting the geologic cutter from Sciences," the engineer admitted.

"What?" Genechiro asked. "They need it for something else?"

"No, they're actually not using it right now," he told them. "It's..."

"It's..." Ryoko prompted.

Hideki took a breath. "Weird."

&&&&&&&&&&&&

When Jun stepped off the lift, he found Megumi, Ruri and Aurora huddled around the science station on the left side of the bridge. Walking up behind them, he tried to discern what they were looking at before interrupting.

"It's a planet," Ruri said definitively.

"It's an asteroid," Aurora argued.

"Asteroids don't have snow," Megumi reminded her.

"Comets do," Ruri interjected.

"Comets are made of ice, this is solid rock," Aurora reminded them.

"What've you got?" Jun finally asked.

Ruri and Megumi stepped aside so Jun could see. The screen in the science area showed a white sphere with a long, misty tail.

Rather than place his own bet, Jun decided to go with the experts. "What am I looking at?" he asked.

"It's... big," Aurora finally said.

"A big what?" Jun asked patiently.

"It's a planet-oid!" Aurora suddenly announced.

"A what?" the three of them asked.

From seemingly nowhere, Aurora produced some graphs and a tripod stand. Producing a pointer from god-knows-where, she began to explain.

"Planets revolve around the sun, but this one has an orbit similar to that of a comet! However, it's NOT a comet, as it is made of rock rather than ice, and it's not an asteroid as asteroids do not have atmospheres or weather patterns. As it shares the majority of its features with that of planets, but is NOT a planet, it is therefore... a planet-OID!"

No one responded for a moment.

"You made that up!" Megumi accused.

"I did NOT!" the Canadian shot back indignantly.

Jun leaned closer for a better look. He could definitely see clouds, though it was difficult to separate them from the rest of the snow-packed surface. "Can you predict its orbit?"

Aurora broke off from her catfight to punch a few keys, then returned. "As ACTING Science Officer, it is within my purview to make such scientific pronouncements!"

"You made up a word!" Megumi replied indignantly. "You could have called it a Ford Festiva and made the same argument!"

Jun watched as a line appeared on a computer graphic of the Epsilon system. The line ran toward the suns, diving between the two stars before making a loop back out to the edge of the system.

"Fine!" Aurora declared, hands on her hips. "As Science Officer, I therefore officially name this planet, Planet Ford Festiva!"

"Noted," Ruri announced, typing it into the log.

Aurora stuck her tongue out at the commo.

"Oh, that's mature!" Megumi sniped.

"Let's check it out," Jun interrupted with a smile. "How long to get there, Chase?"

"About two days, Skipper," the helmsman replied.

"Alter course," Jun ordered. "Time to do some actual exploring."

"Changing course," Chase confirmed. "Onward to Ford Festiva!" he announced, laughing.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"You're kidding, right?" Ryoko asked.

Hideki patted the head of one Engineering's grasshoppers and shook his head. "Nope. Personally, I don't understand the problem. I kept getting the feeling there was some cultural disconnect. I mean, Dr. Fisher seems like a rational person, so why can't she see the rationality here?"

Genechiro looked honestly puzzled. "Yeah, I don't get it either. Is it because she wants compensation for the laser because it's more valuable now than it was when it was just cutting up stupid rocks?"

Ryoko sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Maybe in her mind geology is more vital than defense," Hideki hypothesized. "I mean, she did say she wasn't going to let us use it for war purposes."

"You guys really don't know?" Ryoko asked amazed.

Both Jovians shook their heads.

She looked back and forth between them. "Fisher's a peacenik," she announced.

Hideki and Genechiro blinked for a few moments.

"What, like you mean she's Russian?" Genechiro asked.

"No," Ryoko replied, trying desperately to keep from blowing up. "I mean she's anti-war. A protester."

Hideki seemed to get it first. "She's a Kaifunn. (1)"

"A what?"

"Someone who thinks war doesn't solve anything so they don't participate and discourage others from participating," Hideki told him.

"Since when do wars not solve anything?" Genechiro demanded, irritated by his own confusion.

Ryoko held her hands up. "Okay, look. Simple solution. We'll go down there and get it." She started for the lift. "I mean how hard can it be to take a machine from one little old lady?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Barkrarak stepped off the lift and saw Jun wave him toward the science station. Squaring his shoulders, the Waiter stepped forward. He waited until Jun had donned his translator headset before beginning.

"Leader of ships," he began respectfully. "This warrior feels privileged to assistance yet wishes to understand when next the warrior will fly amongst the vacuum."

"One thing at a time," Jun told him. "First, what do you know about this planet-OID?" asked, winking at Aurora as he said the last word.

Barkrarak looked at the screen, still displaying the feed from the SWACS. "It is the Wanderer," he intoned. "A lost world."

"Lost?" Megumi asked after Jun had translated.

The wolf waggled his head. "Our stories impart that the Wanderer was at one time a world of creatures that made insult and anger toward those who are better. Those who are better slapped the Wanderer away."

"You're saying this world once had people on it?" Aurora asked in awe.

Barkrarak seemed cautious. "People this warrior has not seen. Old females in my habitation speak of such impartations."

"Wives tales," Jun translated. "Still, every legend has a kernel of truth to it." He leaned toward the screen again. "Aurora, how would you feel about testing out the Datahawk?"

The scientist perked up. "I'll see to the preparations, Captain!" Before another word could be said, the scientist bolted for the lift.

"You want them to take a Starhawk out in that?" Megumi asked skeptically.

"Them?" he asked with a grin. "The hell with that! I'm going with them!"

"What!" Megumi asked in shock. "Jun chan," she started again in a whisper, "I don't like the look of those weather patterns."

"This is what we came out here to do," he said excitedly. "Setting foot on an alien world for the first time."

The commo pursed her lips. "Still, shouldn't a science team have first crack at it?"

Jun actually laughed. "Megumi! It's going to be fine! Chief Aragon flew with the Hurricane Hunters in Biloxi, he can handle whatever's down there."

Megumi looked unconvinced.

"And I happen to know a little bit about piloting myself, you know."

While this conversation was going on, Barkrarak stood by, rather uncomfortable knowing without being told that he was hearing something private but not knowing enough about human culture to leave. Finally, the settled on the best course of action he thought available and interrupted.

"If the nest mate of the leader of ships fears for leader of ships' safety, I could accompany," he rumbled.

Jun smiled uncomfortably. "Not this trip," he said.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Dr. Arianna Fisher didn't even look at them from her microscope as she spoke. "Like I told Mr. Amano," she said, "I didn't design and build my laser so you could use it to make weapons. I won't be party to it."

"We're not asking you to make the damn bullets," Ryoko told her flat out. "We're asking to borrow a machine you're not even using."

Fisher looked up in frustration. "Have you tried just... TALKING to them!"

Oh, shit, here we go, Ryoko thought. "Jun doesn't want a fight," she said concretely. "He'll talk to the Caregivers, but he also doesn't want dead pilots. Now these new rounds Hideki thought up could have saved three of my drivers out there."

"I am sympathetic to your pilots," Fisher told her with a touch of condescension. "But that's what they signed up for. No one forced them to fight for the captain."

"Wrong!" Ryoko growled menacingly. "I forced them! Just like I'm going to force you to give me that fucking machine! Genechiro, Hideki, get the laser!"

"This doesn't sound legal," Hideki pointed out carefully.

"You can't do that!" Fisher agreed angrily.

"Watch me!" Ryoko bit back. "I'm not telling my pilots they have to go out there outgunned because you have a bug up your ass about the war!"

Two of Hideki's grasshoppers lifted the laser off the table and started down the hall.

"I should have known," Fisher went on. "Anytime the military gets involved with something, they have to turn it into some bullshit military adventure! Even if the consequences mean our lives!"

Ryoko didn't answer, she was too busy ignoring her as she walked down the hall.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"The Aestivalis is declaring an emergency!" Megumi cried, turning to Jun.

"Get her onboard!" Jun ordered quickly. "I want that pilot up here the second she lands! Minato, where's the other Aesti!"

"Twenty miles behind her at two-two-five," Minato announced, her eyes not leaving her board. "I'm reading intermittent Lidar contacts right behind her. Possible bogies at two-two-five."

"Those aren't bogies," Ryoko cursed under her breath. "They're bandits! Jun, let me..."

"Don't wait for me to tell you," Jun cut her off. "Get your birds in the air."

"Jun chan! Hikaru's coming through on the emergency band!"

Jun listened as the redhead's voice came over the speaker. "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is Whiskey Six-Five declaring an emergency! Multiple bandits on my ass! I need immediate support! Repeat! This is Whiskey Six-Five..."

"Launch the alert birds!" Jun ordered. He turned to Megumi. "Get Erina on the line and tell her to launch fighters! We just walked into a trap!"

"Kanchou, Izumi has landed. She's on her way up," Ruri told him.

"AIIII! Nadesico, this is Whiskey Six-Five! I need help NOW!"

"How long until the alert fighters get to her?" Jun asked.

Megumi covered her earpiece and turned. "Thirty seconds."

"That's not soon enough," Ruri said hauntingly.

The unmistakeable sound of energy blasts piercing metal came over the speaker, followed by a gut-wrenching sob.

"Nadesico! Nadesico! They're right on top of me! I need he..."

It wasn't like in the movies where you could hear the explosion over the radio. The transmission simply stopped.

Megumi let out a shocked breath. "Whiskey Six-Five?" she whispered. "Hikaru? Can you hear me! Hikaru?"

The lift door opened, and Izumi rushed through just as Ryoko's voice came over the speaker.

"Nadesico, this is Alert One... Hikaru's..."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Yellow eyes met her as Izumi opened her own, causing her to jump in surprise. Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, she stood up and turned away from the canine, instead facing the simulated green hills of the meditation room.

"Remorse," Barkrarak told her apologetically. "You were taking rest?"

"I don't rest in here," she snapped back at him. She took a breath to regain her composure.

"Troubles follow your steps," he said. "Another time I will speak alongside your own speech."

"No, Barkrarak, I'm sorry," Izumi told him. "I don't rest well. Just... What can I do for you?" She reached into her flight suit pocket and pulled a cigarette free.

The werewolf paused as if mastering his thoughts. "The leader of ships does not yet trust this warrior to combat on his behalf. Am I offensive to his thoughts?"

Lighting the cancer-stick, Izumi took a moment for a drag before shaking her head in answer. "No." She let a breath out before taking another drag. "Jun just needs to get to know you better before he trusts you. It just takes a little time. You'll see."

"What haunts your thoughts, Blackbird?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing," she told him. "Just old wars." Pulling the cigarette from her lips, she examined the burning end. "Barkarak, the other Waiter we shot down... Who was he?"

Barkrarak regarded her carefully for a moment. "Weapons Master Arkarak," he told her. "My cousin."

Her eyes didn't leave the smoking embers of her addiction. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Mourning his beyonding will not honor his passing," he told her. "Had you not arrived, and had the rest of our design fruitioned accordingly, we both would have slipped into abyss from frozen air and lack of liquids."

She looked up at him as he continued.

"Rather, Cousin passed in battle with an invincible foe." He barked a chuckle. "At the very least, no Consumer statue became he."

She went back to looking at her cigarette. "How do your people say goodbye to the dead?" she whispered.

Worry now crossed his eyes. "Trees are planted bearing their names." He approached her and rested a paw on her shoulder. "Your worries if should be how memories of you will be maintained... know that I would see a tree with your markings upon it grow on my lands."

She said nothing, just took another drag on her cigarette.

"How is it among your people?" he asked.

"I'll show you."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"All right!" Ryoko exclaimed as the grasshoppers placed the machine on Hideki's workbench. "Get to it!"

The bald man scrutinized the device carefully.

"What?" Genechiro asked. "What's wrong?"

Hideki tapped the emitter and nodded with a sigh. "Yup," he said simply. "We're boned."

"What are you talking about!" Ryoko growled.

"The focusing crystal has been removed," he told her.

"WHAT!"

He nodded. "We just dragged a one hundred, sixty pound paper weight up here."

Growling, Ryoko headed down the hall again.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Three rows of framed photographs hung on the wall outside the pilot's briefing room. While other groups of pictures had signs proudly declaring award-winners or chains of command, no signboard heralded this group. No sign had to.

"This is the Memorial Board," Izumi said simply. "Every pilot who's died in combat aboard the Nadesico is here."

Barkrarak took the view in. There were at least thirty pictures, beginning at the top left with a portrait of a man with short, wild hair, giving the photographer the victory sign.

"Gai Daigoji," Izumi supplied the name. "He was murdered at the beginning of the ship's maiden voyage."

The alien pilot's eyes wandered across the board until they rested on an empty space where it appeared a photo once hung. "Did the framed image placed here crash?" he asked.

Izumi actually smiled for a moment. "No. That's one we actually got back."

Barkrarak looked amazed. "You recalled a pilot from beyond the abyss?"

The raven-haired pilot's smile broadened a little. "No. It just turned out he wasn't dead."

Barkrarak finally reached the last image. An odd-looking female with flaming red hair and pieces of glass covering her eyes.

Izumi pointed at the space next to the photo. "Scorch, Stifler and Rhoodie's photos will go there," she told him.

"Who is the pilot here?" he asked, pointing at the redhead.

Izumi paused, unsure of what to say, but then again, wasn't that why she came up here?

"That's Hikaru Amano," she told him. "She was killed... three hours before the war ended."

"How?"

Izumi bit her lip in a desperate try to hold back tears. "Her..." she had to pause before going on. "Her wingman... abandoned her. Her Aestivalis was damaged, and her wingman... just... left her there. Oh, she thought she had a good... noble... reason, but..."

Barkrarak studied her closely.

"They gave her a medal," she whispered. "They should have shot her."

He turned to her and offered her a gruff bark. "Waiters live, then Waiters die. Only our better beings know why. Unlikely found it is I that your friend found her sacrifice a vain or empty one."

Izumi looked up at him. "God, I hope so."

He straightened. "Black bird, if I am to hope to attain a warrior status among your people, it is prudent I be educated on proper battle."

A small piece of her smile clawed its way back into Izumi's features. "Come on," she said. "Simulator's this way."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Where is it!" Ryoko demanded, hands on her hips.

"Whatever are you talking about?" Fisher asked, looking over some data on her computer screen.

"The focusing crystal," the wing king bit out. "Where did you put it?"

The scientist looked up and offered a smile made of poisoned honey. "Of course I'll hand it over," she said.

Ryoko held her hand out.

"Just as soon as King Jun comes down here and asks me for it."

It took every ounce of strength in Ryoko's body to keep from popping the scientist there and then. Rather than say anything, which she knew would only make things worse, she turned on her heal and left the room.

"Give the King my regards," Fisher called after her.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Well, that's great," Genechiro said with a shrug. "Captain Aoi will go ask for it, and she'll give it to him. Problem solved."

Ryoko blinked in shock. "Are you dense? Can't you see what she's doing?"

The XO rubbed his temples. "Look, I'm trying to understand. Really, I am. But this whole idea is a little... alien to me."

The pilot sighed. "She wants to make a political statement. She wants Jun to go down there so she can make a big scene about how horrible it was to fight the Caregivers. We'll never hear the end of it, and right now that's crap we don't need."

"So what do you propose we do?" Hideki asked.

Ryoko growled, knowing how much the next statement would hurt. "We search the ship."

"Are you STUPID!" Genechiro asked incredulously. "This thing is what? An inch across?"

"Quarter-inch," Hideki supplied helpfully. "It could be hidden literally anywhere on this ship."

"That's it!" Genechiro swore, walking to a comm panel. "Get me the LE desk,(2)" he demanded. "She can rot in the brig until she gives it up."

Ryoko stepped after him and turned the panel off. "We can't do that either!" she told him. "We throw her in prison and she gets her vindication."

"So what?" he asked seriously. "Who the hell cares way out here? What difference is it really going to make?"

"We have two representatives of alien races onboard," Hideki said. "How do we preach tolerance to them when we show none for each other?"

"Oh spare me the Macrossian peace and love garbage!" Genechiro snapped at him. "There's a time for humoring idiots and time for getting things done!"

"Okay, how about this?" Ryoko asked. "You do that, and she FEELS like a winner. You want her to feel like a winner?"

"Not particularly," he bit out in reply.

"Jun's going to have enough to deal with without every know-it-all science dweeb on this bucket trying to show how Che they are," she told him seriously. "We find that crystal ourselves. He doesn't hear about this, and Fisher stays OUT of the brig. Copy?"

"So!" Hideki said, clapping his hands together. "Where do we start?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Hey, Ms. Houmei, did you get one of these?" Chase asked, holding up a printed email.

The head chef didn't stop chopping onions as she looked up at the helmsman. "If that's an email from Hideki postponing his anime viewing for another week, then yes." She used her cooking knife to sweep the onions from the cutting board into a wok. "A shame too. I already started on the food."

"I was supposed to play that gig," Chase told her regretfully. "I wonder what made him change his mind."

At that moment, the doors to the mess hall opened and three people in MOPP(3) gear entered. The hiss of their breath through their gas masks gave them an eerie presence, and their faces couldn't be made out through the plexiglass faceplates.

"Okay, everyone out!" a synthesized, but definitely female voice announced. "NOW!"

Two grasshoppers followed the trio inside as everyone who had been eating their evening meal bolted for the door. Gas masks were never a good sign of ANYTHING.

Only Chase and Houmei refused to leave. "Huh?" Chase asked.

"You better have a good reason for chasing out my customers, buddy!" Houmei announced, holding the kitchen knife up just a hair higher.

The lead gas mask held up a document with a bunch of unreadable stamps on it. "This is a Code A-Seven-C bio-containment issue. I suggest you leave immediately."

"My kitchen is inspected three times a week for EVERYTHING!" Houmei argued.

"Wait, what the hell is an A-Seven-C?" Chase asked.

One of the other gas masks chimed in helpfully. "Possible bio-organic infestation," he said. "Place has to be inspected thoroughly, then gassed."

"The hell it does!" Houmei cried, coming from around the counter, knife still in hand. "You have any idea how hard I'm going to have to scrub to make sure there's no poison left behind?"

"MA'AM! THIS IS AN A-SEVEN-C BIO-CONTAMINANT EMERGENCY SOMETHING OR OTHER!" the leader told her.

"Ryoko, is that you?" Chase asked.

The leader paused. "Um..."

The second mask stepped in. "The one you call 'Ryoko' is no longer here..."

"Oh, this is stupid!" the third, who had remained silent up until now, said as he stepped forward. Reaching up, he pulled off his gas mask. Genechiro pulled some hair out of his eyes. "As Executive Officer, I am ordering you to GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS KITCHEN RIGHT NOW!"

"Okay, okay, jeez!" Chase said as he started toward the door. Ryoko and Hideki pulled their masks off.

"No poison!" Houmei growled as she walked out.

"Okay," Ryoko said as the doors closed behind the two. "Get scanning. Genechiro, you check the freezers. She might have hidden them with the ice cubes. I'm going to check the spice rack."

The three started looking through the kitchen as the grasshoppers began scanning every nook and cranny of the cafeteria.

"This is so embarrassing," Genechiro growled. "Just so I know, what IS an A-Seven-C infestation?"

"Ants," Hideki told him as he scanned the bread carts.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Make sure to keep your speed up," Izumi's voice came over the comm. "While you can fight with no forward momentum, it leaves you very vulnerable."

Barkrarak banked left and saw three more grasshoppers heading toward him. Sending signals from his brain through the IFS, his Aestivalis hopped straight up and spun forward as the Jovian fighters went by, giving him a clear shot at their aft sections. Lining up the targeting reticule, he...

"Excuse me, Mr. Barkrakrak!"

The image of a human he had never seen before suddenly appeared in a comm window before him. Surprised, the Waiter's shots went wide.

"How do you do?" the woman asked. She wore a translator headset, making an interpreter unnecessary. "My name is Kimberly Tencza, I represent Nergal Heavy Industries."

"That is... good?" Barkrarak replied.

"I'd like to speak with you privately," she told him. "Please come to my office in one hour. Deck four, room 32." With that, her face disappeared.

He opened a channel with Izumi. "I have been summoned," he told her.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Mr. Barkrarak, please come in," Tencza invited the alien into her office, gesturing to a seat as she walked around her desk again. "Thank you so much for coming."

"Not certain to the nature of the choices was I in this instance," he told her truthfully.

"This has nothing to do with the military," she told him. "Do you know who I am?"

"The Black Bird says you hold money."

"In a way, yes," she told him. "It's my job to arrange trades."

"I have no item worth bartering," he told her, once again being as honest as possible.

"Well, not you personally," she told him. "But it is possible that your world has something to offer Nergal, and I'm quite sure Nergal could offer you something in return."

The Waiter suddenly got the feeling he was in over his head. "Something?" he asked.

She smiled, something he'd seen on countless predators. "Indeed. Of course, it would have to be something of equal value to whatever we can offer you. Tell me, what are your people especially good at making?"

Barkrarak racked his brain for something the human might want. It was hard, not having known the species that long. The Waiters were agricultural, they grew things. Only the Consumers had any interest in technology. That's why they were always... Ah hah!

"The Consumers seize celestial bodies in orbit around celestial bodies of greater mass," he explained. "They do this for the rocks beneath their shells."

"Rocks?"

Barkrarak knew the translator wasn't getting his point across. Although the machine made him sound simple, he was hardly stupid. Taking a pen and pad from Tencza's desk, he started drawing circles. When he was done a few minutes, later, he handed it to her.

"Rocks," he told her.

Tencza blinked and went to her computer. She brought up a chart and began cycling through it until she found a picture that matched the one she held in her hand. "Woah, baby!" she muttered. She regained her composure. "Um... How many of these... rocks... do they pull from your moons?"

"The celestial bodies are anomalous," he told her. "The entire lower mantle is made from minerals such as that."

The woman felt her heart flutter.

Barkrarak held his hands apart as wide as he could. "About this large."

Oooooh! Mama want! She thought. She looked at the paper again, at the drawing of the molecular composition of carbon there.

While carbon came in different forms, she knew there was only one form the Caretakers would have any interest in.

The diamond kind.

"Once those celestial bodies have been liberated from their bondage, would such things be of suitable value?" he asked.

Tencza choked back a laugh of glee. "A little," she admitted.

"This is adequate," he rumbled. "In return, Waiters require freedom. Freedom from Consumer slavery."

Tencza smiled and tapped a few keys on her computer. "Well, Mr. Barkrarak, you are fortunate. If there's one thing Nergal is good at building..." She turned her monitor around, showing him the schematics of a Cosmos - class Nergal battleship.

"... it's freedom."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"By my count, that leaves us with about a hundred and fifty rooms left," Hideki announced as he tossed a can of soda to Ryoko.

"Great!" Genechiro remarked sarcastically. "That should only take us a year."

"Everyone shut up," Ryoko ordered. "We need to step back for a bit. Let's take thirty minutes, get some chow and come back."

"Fine," the XO said, turning his back on them and walking out.

Ryoko shook her head. "Sheesh. He's a bundle of sunshine."

Hideki shrugged noncommitally

The wing king tapped the top of her can with her fingernail in thought. "Hideki, why do he and Rikari call you a 'Macrossian?'"

The engineer shrugged again. "Because I am."

"No, I mean what's the big deal?"

He took a breath and thought about how to put it. "When the Jovians fled Mars for Jupiter, they had very little. There was no time to pack and very little room on the available ships. So instead of things like books, which took up space and weighed a lot, they took vids that could be compressed into data. So for the first three new generations of Jovians, there was no Bible, no stories to draw faith from. Lacking anything else, they connected with Gekigangar 3. They were drawn to the message that the righteous would always overthrow evil if they fought long and hard enough."

"But there was another anime along the same lines as Gekigangar," he continued. "One that taught that peace was attainable no matter what 'the other' had done. That anime was Macross, a story about a lone battleship facing a horde of invading aliens with almost nothing in common with humans. But there was something, something that brought them together. It teaches that peace can be within reach, if you strive for it."

"And the Jovians don't like that?" Ryoko asked.

"Try to understand, Colonel," Hideki said sadly. "My people wanted revenge more than anything else for a very long time. Some still do. Only god can give permission for that kind of hate." He shrugged. "The Macrossians parted ideological ways with Gekigangar, so we were branded heretics." He took a long swig of soda.

Ryoko slammed the palm of her hand into her forehead. "It looks like the Jovians aren't as immune to protests as I thought."

Hideki only smiled. "We had to be very careful," he said. "The Jovians don't tolerate dissent. Our leader, Yuriko Akagi, sits in a Jovian prison cell to this day for..."

"For what?" Ryoko asked.

"You'll think it's stupid."

"On this ship? What ain't?"

He laughed at that. "I suppose you're right. She made a prophecy," he announced. "It's always been said that she possessed the gift of foresight. She predicted the war with your people. She predicted we'd lose that war. And she predicted that the story of Macross would come true."

The pilot snorted. "So... what? You think the Nadesico is this Macross?"

He only smiled again. "That, Colonel, is a leap of faith that even I am not ready to make."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Well," Tencza told him. "This seems to have been a very good start. When we arri..."

At that moment, someone kicked the door in and three figures in gas masks followed by two grasshoppers entered her office.

"Everyone needs to get out," a synthesized voice said. "Now!"

"What is the meaning of this!" Tencza demanded, rising to her feet and placing her hands on her desk. Barkrarak looked confused, looking back and forth between the Nergal woman and the three figures.

"We have a A-Seven-C bio-containment situation!" the lead figure announced. "I need everyone to leave the room!"

The Nergal rep gathered her composure and stood up straight. "Who sent you? Captain Aoi? If he wanted to plant bugs in my office, this is by far the most amateurish way I've ever seen someone do it."

"Actually, it's ants!" a second gas mask told her helpfully.

"Shut up," the first gas mask told him. "Look, lady, we need to sweep this room and..."

She keyed a comm window. "I have a better idea. Let's see what the captain thinks."

"You can't do that!" the second gas mask interrupted.

"And why not?" Tencza demanded.

"Um..." the first gas mask began.

"The ants got him?" the second suggested. The third, standing in the background, smacked his own forehead in frustration.

"I want to know what's going on right now," Tencza demanded. "Or I'll have security come down here and find out the hard way. My office is off limits to unauthorized crew members."

The third man pulled off his gas mask. "Look," Genechiro told her, "We're looking for something that can give us a military advantage over the Caregivers."

The others pulled off their gas masks and one by one relayed the story of how they found themselves searching the ship room by room, thus far in vain.

Tencza listened closely and nodded. "I believe I can help you."

"You've seen it?" Hideki asked.

"No, but I do have some experience in negotiations, and I do believe if you give me an opportunity I can convince Dr. Fisher to give you the crystal. Follow me, please."

The four walked out of the office, leaving Barkrarak alone and forgotten.

"Should I depart?" he asked as the lights went dark around him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Nothing was said of exactly what Tencza planned to say to Fisher, making for a rather quiet elevator trip to the science level. When they finally arrived at Fisher's lab, Tencza put on her negotiation smile.

"Ah, Dr. Fisher!" she said in greeting. "How are you getting along here?"

The scientist saw who was in Tencza's company and went frosty. "So they sent you, huh?" she asked. "I told them I'd only give the crystal to King Jun."

"Tsk, tsk," Tencza told her. "That's not very nice. The colonel here told me about your feelings on the manner, and I thought I'd talk to you personally."

"I don't' see why," Fisher told her, arms over her chest. "They know my position."

Tencza nodded. "Yes, but I'm willing to bet I can convince you. So, what's say you outline your position, I'll outline mine, and we'll find a satisfactory middle ground."

"You want to have a political debate?" Fisher asked incredulously.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fun!" Tencza told her. "I was very good at debate club in high school. Go on ahead."

"Very well," Fisher said. With a clearing of her throat, she began to speak. What followed was a diatribe that explained why wars in the modern age was wrong. Included were statements such as, "It's their culture, and we shouldn't interfere," and "What right does King Jun have to declare war in my name?"

Tencza listened carefully, nodding in places, shaking her head in others. At the end, Fisher clapped her hands and said,

"And that's the short version of where I'm coming from."

"Short version?" Genechiro asked. "She's been talking for twenty-five minutes!"

"Now then, I believe it's your turn," Fisher said, gesturing to Tencza.

The Nergal rep smiled sheepishly. "Those are all very good points, and I hope you'll find my arguments equally as fascinating," she said. She cleared her throat and stepped forward.

"Give me the crystal or you're fired." She turned to the others. "Did I go over time?" she asked.

"What!" Fisher asked, her face turning red in anger. "How dare y..."

"Excuse me! Still my turn!" Tencza interrupted angrily. "You built your drill with Nergal equipment, Nergal resources and Nergal personnel. It belongs to Nergal, and you will place that crystal in the custody of Colonel Subaru at once!"

"I see," Fisher hissed. "You can't win the debate so you silence my right to free speech!"

"Hardly," Tencza told her. "You have the right to say whatever you like to whomever you like. What you don't have the right to do is steal Nergal property and endanger Nergal employees. Now you can either give me the crystal or you can spend the next eleven and a half months in your quarters. I will terminate your Nergal contract here and now and see to it that no university, no company, no mall jewelry store ever takes an employment application from you ever again."

She held her hand out. "Well?" she asked. "Just how righteous are you?"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"We owe you one," Ryoko told Tencza as they stepped back on the lift. "Thank you, really."

"It's more about self preservation than anything else," the Nergal woman told her. "I live here too, you know. Don't mention it."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Well the first days are the hardest days,

Don't you worry anymore.

Cause when life looks like easy street,

There is danger at the door.

Think this through with me,

Let me know your mind.

Oh, ho all I want to know-ho,

Is are you kind?"

Aurora was sitting at Ruri and Wei-Hu's table near the stage as Chase and two other crewmen with musical talent played. Chase had dubbed them, "Uncle John's Band." Wei-Hu, as usual, was enthralled with the sounds, but more so now that more instruments were involved.

"God damn! I declare!

Have you seen the light?

Their walls are made of cannon balls,

their motto is 'don't tread on me!'

Come hear Uncle John's band,

playing to the tide.

Come on along or go alone,

He's come to take his children home."

"How is this done?" Wei-Hu asked Ruri. "How do the sounds become as one?"

"Magic," Ruri answered deadpan.

"Magic?" Wei-Hu whispered in respectful awe.

"Ruri Ruri! That's not nice," Aurora told her. "It's about harmonics, Wei-Hu."

"Don't you have a mission tomorrow?"

"In the evening," Aurora told her proudly, not missing the hint to shut up. "It turns out the two-day estimate was off, so we can leave tomorrow!"

"Shouldn't you be on crew rest, then?"

"Nah!"

"Baka."

Uncle John's Band finished, and again Wei-Hu clapped as vigorously as she did that first night. "How does one do such acts?" she asked.

Chase somehow realized the comment was meant for him and turned to Ruri for a translation. "She wants to know how many beers she has to drink before she can play like you."

"Oh, it's easy," he said. He motioned for the alien girl to come up on stage. Timidly, Wei-Hu followed. Chase rooted around an old foot-locker that was doubling as a piano bench until he found the object of his search. "Here," he said, handing the alien a tambourine.

He couldn't understand the wording of her next question, but got the jist. "It's a tambourine," he told her. Taking it, he slapped it against his hand, making it ring.

The girl's eyes lit up as she snatched it back.

"Now, I want you to do this." He took her hands and slapped her palm against the tambourine a few times until he established a beat. "Keep doing that."

As Wei-Hu continued to slap the tambourine, Chase picked up his guitar and started to play along. A few moments later, Petty Officer Aurello joined in with the drums.

Wei-Hu twittered in glee.

At another table nearby, three people in MOPP gear raised beers. "And that's how it's done," Ryoko announced before throwing hers back.

"Fine, let's just never do it again!" Genechiro told her.

"Deal!"

Hideki wasn't listening. He was staring at the stage, at Chase playing music with Wei-Hu, two people, aliens to one another, linked together by music.

"I knew it," he breathed. "He's the one."

"One what?" Genechiro asked.

Remembering what he was talking about and with whom, he buttoned up. "Er... Colonel Subaru, now that I've found that solution you were looking for, you said you would owe me."

Ryoko slapped Hideki on the back, just a bit drunk. "Damn straight I did!"

"Good," he told her. "I actually have a favor to ask you."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Hideki closed the door to his quarters and peeled the chem suit off. It had been a long day, but for the first time in a long time, things were looking up. Ryoko had agreed to talk to Jun for him, eagle to eagle(4) about Chase, who he was more certain than ever was the key to everything that had happened in his life until now.

Flopping down in his couch, he looked up at the ceiling as images from dreams and memories came back to him from that day. Well, the day was superfluous. It was five words that changed his life, five words that he was starting to believe meant nothing until recently.

He closed his eyes and whispered the words just as Yuriko Akagi had done that day on Io. That day, he was given a mission, one that promised peace not just between the Earthers and the Jovians, but among all peoples.

He whispered...

"'You will find Lynn Minmei.'"

Author's Notes:

1. Hideki is referring to the character, Lynn Kaifunn, from Macross, a man who protested against the war against the aliens on the grounds that "war never solved anything."

2. Law Enforcement

3. Mission Oriented Protective Posture. Chemical, biological and radiation protective gear that usually consists of a gas mask, chemical suit, rubber boots and gloves.

4. Ryoko, Jun and Rikari are actually the same rank, but are in different services. Jun is a Captain in the UE Navy, Ryoko a Colonel in the UE Space Force and Rikari a Colonel in the Superior Male Forces. All three ranks are represented by the eagle. Authority depends on the matter at hand, but as mission commander, Jun has total authority and responsibility.


	8. Survive

Disclaimer: I don't own Nadesico.

Nadesico: Oysters and Pearls

Chapter 8: Survive

Aurora Dayne grumbled. She had a killer headache, she was stuck at this blinking red light, and her car radio was getting nothing but static.

She looked right and left, but it was so dark and foggy, she couldn't make anything out, and that static was LOUD.

Leaning forward in an attempt to see better, she was brought up short by her seat belt. Grumbling again, she reached down and undid the latch...

... and cried out as she fell, coming to full-blown consciousness when she stopped, something digging into her back.

She blinked and groaned, her hand going to the back of her head as she slowly opened her eyes.

The face of a dead man stared back at her.

She screamed and kicked her legs out, striking something else.

Someone groaned to her left. Her panic starting to subside, things started to come back to the scientist. Looking to her right, at the dead body there, she swallowed back bile as she remembered the name of the man hanging in his safety restraint, blood seeping down from under his helmet.

"Chief Aragon," she whispered. The blinking red light was coming from the Datahawk's overhead light, which was now no longer overhead. Climbing up to a sitting position, she realized the thing digging into her back was the ship's throttle handles. The Datahawk was somehow sitting on the tip of its nose.

She heard the groan again and looked left at the copilot's station.

"Captain!" she cried, reaching out and touching him. She looked down and found that his station had smashed inward, crushing his legs against the seat. Blood seeped from under his helmet.

What little medical training she had kicked in, and she started taking mental notes on his condition. Reaching out, she gently removed his helmet, pausing momentarily to ask herself if that was the right thing to do.

She looked behind her and found only darkness outside the windshield. She couldn't remember a lot of what had happened before she blacked out. Something had hit them, and the ship began spinning. Then a jarring impact and nothing.

Snap out of it, she thought!

Radio!

Turning, she picked up Jun's helmet again and started speaking into the microphone. "Hello! Hello! Can anybody hear me! This is Aurora Dayne! Is anybody out there!"

"It's dead."

She screamed at the voice.

Jun's head rolled toward her as his eyes opened. "Comm array was in the nose. It's crushed," he told her painfully. "Chief?"

She shook her head.

He took a labored breath. "Damn. So much for our first look at Ford Festiva, huh?"

"Captain, look at me," the scientist ordered. "Can you feel your legs?"

"Yes, and they hurt like hell," he mumbled through the pain.

"Good, that means your spine is still there," she told him as she searched the cockpit for a box with a red cross on it.

"Behind the pilot's seat," he told her, sensing her purpose.

She choked back nausea as she reached behind the dead pilot. "How long until they come for us?" she asked, trying to divert her attention to something else.

Jun's hand went to his forehead. "They're probably looking now, but it'll take time. The last good message we got is that lidar couldn't track us in that storm."

She found a pre-filled squeeze-syringe of morphine and turned back to him. "Captain, listen to me very carefully. It's a good bet that you have a concussion, so you have to stay awake. I'm going to give you just enough to take the edge off the pain, but you have to stay awake, okay?"

"No problem," he muttered.

"What do I do now?" she asked.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

While Aurora was trying to approach her problem in a calm, collected way, it could not be said of the rest of the Nadesico crew trying to solve the same problem.

"They can be anywhere inside this circle," Ruri told them as she walked onto the video-mat. A red circle appeared covering a section of the rogue planet, Ford Festiva.

"That circle is the size of Nebraska, Ruri," Chase told her.

"Our last lidar contact was here," the girl continued, marking a spot on the floor with a red X. "Given their course, speed, altitude and wind velocity, factored with the force of gravity, that gives us this circle."

Genechiro listened carefully as Ruri went on.

"With the weather conditions known to be unpredictable, a search will take a lot of time and be very dangerous," she said. "Thick cloud cover makes Nadesico's optical sensor array useless, and thermal imaging will be unreliable."

"We need to send Aestis," Ryoko broke in. "Start along the final course and spread out."

"Visually? That'll take weeks!" Chase told her.

"Well, we can't..."

Genechiro chose this moment to interrupt. "I don't want to hear about what we can't do," he said steadily. For the first time in weeks, the Jovian officer didn't sound sour and ticked off. Rather, he was calm, almost serene. "I want to hear about what we CAN do."

"Recall the SWACS and the Rivet Jack," Rikari suggested. "Their scanners can cover more ground."

"I'd say half that," Ryoko said honestly. "Recall the SWACS, and have the RJ watch our backs. The Caretakers are still out there. I can have two squadrons of robots scouring the surface in about an hour."

"Get on it," Genechiro ordered.

"What about the Starhawks?" Chase asked. "We could use the SAR birds to..."

Ryoko shook her head. "No, not until we know more about what brought the Datahawk down."

"But it would mean four more planes sea..."

Ryoko snapped at him. "Aragon flew with the Hurricane Hunters before coming aboard! If weather brought HIM down, it can bring ANY Starhawk down."

"Starhawks stay onboard until the survivors are ready for extraction," Genechiro told them, careful to use the word "survivors." "Get to work."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The meeting broke up, and Ryoko left the conference room, stepping onto the bridge. She had a search to coordinate, but she wanted to brief the only Nadesico officer who wasn't at the meeting.

She found her right where she expected her to be.

"Delta Charlie One, this is Nadesico. Come in. Over," Megumi repeated again. "Delta Charlie One, this is Nadesico. Come in. Over."

Ryoko sat on Ruri's unoccupied terminal. "Your shift ended an hour ago, didn't it?" she asked.

"So did yours," Megumi told her without looking up. "Delta Charlie One, this is Nadesico. Respond on this frequency. Over."

"We're going to recall the SWACS and start a search pattern with the robots," she told the commo. "We're going to find them."

Megumi paused, and Ryoko knew what she wanted to say, what Ryoko deserved to hear. The comm officer wanted to say, "What? Like you did before?"

Instead, she said, "I know."

Then repeated the hail.

Ryoko stood up and went off to arrange the search.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

"How do you think we ended up... like this?" Aurora asked, more to keep Jun awake than out of any real curiosity.

"We belly-landed," Jun told her. "Then we fell into some kind of crevice. Probably filled with snow by now."

Aurora digested this sullenly. "Then it'll be even harder for them to find us," she surmised.

Jun bit his lip painfully as he tried moving again. "Yeah," he answered quickly.

"There's got to be something we can do to make it easier for them!" she declared. "What if we try going outside?"

"It's sixty-two below outside," Jun reminded her.

"What if we fired some of the rear weapons?"

"This is a scientific model," he told her. "No weapons."

"And we have no radio?" she asked, losing hope.

He didn't answer. He was drifting again.

"HEY!" she shouted. His eyes snapped open. "Stay awake," she ordered.

"Maybe," he muttered.

"Maybe what?"

"The comm system was in the nose, but the IFF(1) transponder system is in the tail," he told her.

"And?" she prompted.

"Well," he said, buying a few moments to gather his concussed and addled thoughts. "It's basically a low-level transponder designed to send data at a certain frequency. We couldn't send a voice transmission, but maybe a tap code..."

"We'd have to reconfigure it, right?" she asked warily. She looked up. If it was located in the tail section, she'd have to climb fifty feet in the air.

He knew what she was thinking. "'Fraid so," he told her with only the hint of a smile.

"I don't know any codes," she told him. "How..."

"I know a couple," he told her. "You reconfigure the transponder to send, and I can tap the code."

She found herself shaking her head, her eyes still at the top of the world. "Captain, I don't think I can do that."

"Sure you can," he said tiredly. "The system is basic enough."

"No, I mean... Climb all the way up there."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ryoko performed the final checks on her equipment before powering up. The mini-transpositional engines roared and breathed life into the onboard electronics. Lights started as red and turned green in rapid succession.

"Nadesico, Search Lead, radio check," she said into the bone mic nestled against her throat.

"Search Lead, Nadesico. Loud and clear," she heard Megumi's voice come back. "Good hunting."

"Roger." A holo-window opened in front of her, showing the progress of the robot's start-up sequences. While she waited, she opened another channel.

"Search Two, this is Search Lead."

"Search Two, go ahead," she heard Rikari respond.

"Hey, Rikari, what's the deal with Genechiro? Usually I can't stand him, but if I didn't know better back there, I'd say he was acting like a captain."

"Commander Tsukuomi is a member of the Superior Male Forces," Rikari told her. "That means more than just getting to call yourself superior all the time."

Ryoko paused. "I'm not quite following you..."

"Every member of the SMF undergoes gene therapy injections to make themselves superior," Rikari explained. "Originally, it was to make sure troops didn't die during boson jumping, but it didn't stop there. The higher in rank you go, the more injections you get."

"Wait," Ryoko stopped her. "Are you telling me Tsukuomi is genetically engineered to suppress his prick impulses in a crisis?"

She could almost see the colonel's smile on the other end. "Precisely."

"And you?" Ryoko asked. "Did they make you a 'superior male' in other ways?"

"I don't like to brag," Rikari replied. "Nadesico, Search Two. Ready to depart."

"Roger," Megumi replied. "Right on Four-Four, ready to copy."

Rikari's robot disappeared.

Ryoko muttered to herself in self-loathing. "'Superior male?'" she quoted herself as she fastened her helmet. "Slut."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Aurora made sure she had a firm hold on the headrest of the seat above her and good footing on the one below before scampering up a little higher. She was about twenty feet up now, climbing past the series of five seats that lined the right bulkhead of the Datahawk. Each seat was for a sensor operator, but was mostly automated now. She pulled harder, not only carrying her weight, but the weight of the emergency took kit hanging around her neck. Bared in her teeth was a green light stick.

Grunting, she pulled herself to the next chair. Only two more to go, then she could start on the lidar terminals. Past that, the crew rest cot. Then it was just a short climb past the toilet, and she was there.

Then her foot slipped.

The light stick fell from her mouth as she cried out. She felt a sharp pain in her back as she hit the forward control terminal...

Again.

"You were gone longer this time," Jun told her weakly.

"Oh yeah, I'm making GREAT progress," she bit out as she checked herself for injuries. "It's hopeless," she said.

"Nothing is hopeless," he said softly. He swallowed painfully. It was getting harder to concentrate.

Aurora looked at him worriedly. "You can't sleep," she whispered desperately. "If you sleep, you can fall into a coma."

"I'll try to stay awake, if you try to get up there again," he promised her.

She growled. "Fine," she told him in mock petulance. She bit her lip in worry a moment later. "What if they're not even looking?"

"They're looking," he promised her. "If you can hold onto that, you can make it through anything."

Aurora took a deep breath and stood up, grabbing hold of the frame of the cockpit door, she pulled herself up again.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"We have pilots rotating search patrols, with each patrol hot-pitting(2) twice before landing," Ryoko reported. "Sectors Two and Seven have been tapped out. That's progress of a sort."

Genechiro stared up at the map on the viewscreen. Green pie slices in the circle Ruri marked earlier indicated areas that had been searched. Red slices indicated areas to go. Unfortunately, the pie was more cherry than key lime at this point.

"Could we use some of Colonel Taggart's ground Aestivalis?" Genechiro asked.

Ryoko shook her head. "Moira's groundpounders wouldn't be able to cover as much ground and would still need the same amount of support as the flying units."

He nodded. "Very well. Keep it up."

The wing king nodded. "Where did Megumi go?"

Ruri spoke up in answer. "Ms. Megumi's shift ended eight hours ago, but she refused to leave. Her voice gave out about two hours ago."

"I see," Ryoko said.

The woman who took Megumi's spot suddenly turned to them. "Commander Tsukuomi! Snoop One is reporting in."

"Put her on."

The map disappeared and was replaced by Scarf's familiar cowboy hat and white scarf. "Nadesico, Snoop One," she greeted. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

At the helm, Chase huffed. "Well, THERE'S a switch!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Megumi sat in front of the meal Houmei made for her and forced herself to eat. She knew from experience she wasn't any good to anyone if she didn't keep her strength up, it was just very hard to find an appetite.

It took an hour and three lozenges before her voice finally came back. She thought about returning to the bridge, but knew it wouldn't do much good. Ensign Tsubata could speak into a microphone just as well as she could.

Pushing a carrot around her plate with her fork, Megumi glanced to her right and paused. There was a Jovian sitting at the next table...

Doing the exact same thing.

He looked miserable, tired and depressed. His name suddenly came back to her.

"Hideki Hataro?"

The Jovian looked up. "Ah, Lieutenant Aoi," he greeted. "Any word yet?"

She shook her head.

"I see," he said dejectedly.

It took a moment to realize why the Jovian was taking her husband's disappearance so hard. Then it came back...

"A woman was going to do that to him eventually," Rikari had told them. "And if not, I'm sure now there will always be a special place in Hataro's heart for you, Miss Dayne."

"I'm sure she's fine," Megumi told him.

"I was out there searching," he said. "It's so much ground to cover. How..."

"She's fine," she repeated firmly. "If you want to find her, the first step is believing that with everything you've got. Because if you don't, there's no point in looking!"

Hataro looked down at his plate. "You're very wise for a woman, Lieutenant Aoi."

She let the culturally incorrect statement slide. "I know firsthand..."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Megumi chan?"

Megumi looked up from the daily incident reports and saw Yurika's worried face.

"Anything today?" the captain asked softly.

Megumi Reinard shook her head. "No." Before she could continue further, a comm window opened, and a technician's face appeared.

"Lieutenant Reinard, we have a network issue down here," he said. "Don't suppose we could get you to look at it?"

"Hai," she said woodenly. "I'll be right down."

"Megumi chan," Yurika spoke up again as Megumi stood up. "Don't give up."

"I'm not the one who gave up," she bit out quietly as she marched to the lift.

It was a short ride down to the hangar deck. Stepping off, she made her way past Robot Country towards the hangar. As she was passing the operations desk, she froze.

It was as if a ice cold hand had suddenly grabbed her spine and squeezed. She swallowed hard and turned, walking at first, then marching angrily to the far wall. She choked back an angry sob as she reached up...

"Hey! What are you doing!" the ops tech demanded, coming out from around the desk.

She didn't stop. She reached out and ripped the framed photo from the Memorial Board.

"HEY! What do you think..."

"HE'S NOT DEAD!" she screamed at him, clutching the photo of Jun to her chest. "It's only been three weeks! He still counts as missing!"

"Look, lady, I don't know who you are, but you better hand over that photo before I..."

Before he could finish, rough hands grabbed him from his right and pushed him against the wall.

"Back off!" Akito Tenkawa growled.

The man's feet finally touched ground again as Akito released him. The man sputtered for a minute before coming back with, "I'm telling Major Subaru!"

Megumi held the photo desperately, tears flowing freely down her face. Akito regarded her for a long moment before reaching out and taking her arm, pulling her into an empty briefing room.

Out of public for the moment, Megumi collapsed into a chair and started crying in earnest.

Akito sat next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Megumi chan," he said softly.

"He's not dead," she breathed. "How can they... How can they just write him off? He's not dead!" She sniffled. "It's like they don't even care. It's like no one cares but me!"

She sobbed again. Then said something she didn't want to.

"Akito, what if he really is dead?"

Akito sat back and took a breath. "Remember the first time you and I talked?" he asked. "In the observation room?" He waited for her to nod before continuing. "I thought I was the only one who cared about Gai. I thought everyone was just so callous they couldn't feel bad about it. After awhile, I realized that it wasn't that they didn't care, it was just easier to pretend they didn't."

Megumi sniffled again.

"But Jun's not dead," he told her. "I know it, and you know it. And if we're going to find him, then the first thing we have to do is believe that with everything we've got! Otherwise there's no point in looking."

"Thank you, Akito," she said.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"How many?" Genechiro asked.

"Our scanners aren't as advanced as the SWACS," Scarf told him. "But we're picking up chatter from AT LEAST six capital ships. Sector Two-Two-Eight."

"Ruri?" Ryoko prompted.

"That would put them off our charts, but if they are capable of similar speeds to Haa-Luu's frigate, they could be here in two days."

"Maybe they're not looking for us," Chase suggested hopefully.

"Could you tell me what else six Caretaker battleships are going to be looking for?" Ryoko asked snidely.

"This changes things quite a bit," Genechiro growled.

"We can't..." Ryoko began to argue preemptively.

"We're not leaving," Genechiro announced, interrupting her unexpectedly. "Jovians DO NOT leave men on the field of battle uncontested. Colonel Subaru, do everything necessary to speed up the search!"

Ryoko didn't wait for more. She rushed to the lift.

"Mister Warren, plot an escape route that will keep us out of weapons range of those battleships and allows us to leave no sooner than absolutely necessary."

"Aye aye, Sir!"

"Ruri," the XO continued. "Start getting creative."

"Hai."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

As Aurora struggled up past the lidar terminals, Jun could only hang in his restraint harness and struggle to keep his eyes open. He knew what might happen if he slept, but the darkness crept into his body bit by bit, like a cauldron of water slowly being heated. Before he knew it, it would be boiling and it would be too late.

He concentrated on the sounds above and behind him, Aurora struggling up into the tail section of the broken research shuttle. She was persistent as well as brilliant, a combination he had always seen in Inez.

Tap.

He blinked and shook his head painfully.

Tap-Tap... Tap.

It was coming from the right bulkhead.

Tap-Tap-Tap... Tap... Tap.

Now from the left.

His breath quickened. "No," he whispered inaudibly, shutting his eyes.

Tap-Tap... Tap-Tap...

His blood pounded in his ears. "There is no one tapping," he whispered to himself. "There is no one tapping."

It came from all around him now.

Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap... Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap!

He reached up and covered his ears. "There is no one tapping!" he hissed.

TAPTAPTAPTAPTAPTAP!

"THERE IS NO ONE TAPPING!" he cried.

"Captain?"

The tapping was gone.

"I'm coming down!"

"No!" he shouted back. "Stay up there! It's all right!"

"What's wrong!" she called back. "Is it your wounds?"

He took a breath. "No," he replied, more softly this time. "No, I'm okay. Where are you?"

"Just past lidar stat...WHOOP!"

He leaned to the right, and half a second later she landed in the usual spot.

"OWIE!" she cried.

"You got pretty far this time," he noted.

She started to stand again.

"Rest for awhile," he ordered. "Drink some water. You need to stay hydrated."

"You drink it," she told him. "You need it more."

"I could have internal bleeding," he argued tiredly. "Besides, it might be a waste to give it to me."

"Stop talking like that," she ordered harshly. "You're supposed to be the optimistic one here, remember?"

His eyes drooped.

"HEY!"

They snapped open again.

She took his advice anyway and took a swallow from a canteen. "Talk to me," she ordered. "Otherwise I can't risk climbing up there again."

"Talk about what?"

Aurora searched for some subject. "Tapping," she repeated. "Who was tapping?"

He regarded her for a moment. "Tap code," he told her. "It's how we communicated with one another in the camp."

"Camp?" she asked. "Like you mean training camp where you march in little circles and learn to fold your underwear into little cubes?" She smiled.

"No," he said deadpan. "The POW camp where they beat you a few hours a day and don't give you enough light to see your own hand."

Aurora shut up.

Jun realized he had embarrassed her. "We would tap the walls of our cells to communicate with one another," he finished quietly.

"I... I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's no secret," he said.

"Um, yes it is," Aurora told him straight-up. "Is that what Ms. Megumi was so angry with Chase about?"

He gave her a puzzled look. "I wasn't aware they had a fight," he said.

She nodded. "I think he asked her about it, and she shut him down pretty quick."

Jun grunted. "She thinks she needs to protect me," he told her. "Yurika thought the same, I think."

"May I ask how long?"

"Ten months," he replied quietly.

"Wow," she whispered. "So... You heard someone using that tap code here?"

He shook his head. "No, I..." Humiliation stopped him short. "I'm... not very good... in small, dark places," he confessed.

"Why not?"

He took an exasperated breath at the woman's dim-headed question, but something compelled him to speak. Maybe it was the thought that this time, he really was going to die the way he should have all those years ago, in the dark.

"If I tell you," he said. "You have to promise not to tell Megumi. She doesn't know the details. I think it would... scare her."

Aurora crossed her heart and held up two fingers. "Mountie Scout promise!"

He turned away as he spoke, staring at the dark bulkhead to his right. "The Jovians had a POW camp on Phobos," he began. "After nine months there, the UEAF started their big offensive to retake Mars. Phobos was a staging area, and the Jovians couldn't hold it, so they abandoned the camp, thinking it was only a few hours away from being liberated."

The captain took a tired breath. "What they didn't know was that UE Intelligence wasn't as good as they gave it credit for. The UE had no idea the camp was there. The Jovians pulled out and left us in our cells, leaving a hundred and fifty of us in the dark."

"We laughed and swore at them when they left. We figured we'd be rescued soon." He took another breath. "Then a day passed. And another. And another."

Aurora listened in growing horror, swallowing nervously, like a girl at a horror movie who suspects the next plot twists and hopes it isn't so.

"We were already weak, and it didn't take long for dehydration and starvation to set in," he continued. "I lucked out. There was a coolant pipe running through my cell. I was able to... lick the condensation off it for hydration, but the others..."

Aurora covered her mouth in horror.

"Ten days in, and I knew I was the only one left," he said quietly. "The coolant system stopped working, and my water source was gone. I started to dehydrate like the others. I could still hear them tapping, though. I would hear them tapping, and I'd shout through the bars in my door for one of them to answer, and none of them ever did."

Tears were rushing down the scientist's face by this point, silently wishing the captain would stop but knowing he had to finish.

"Two days after that, I heard an explosion and people walking through the prison," he said. "I tried to call out for help, but my throat was too parched to make sounds." For the first time since the story began, he turned to her. "You know... that was the moment I was most scared," he continued. "Listening to them as they found body after body. I was so afraid they'd just assume everyone was dead and leave."

He started shaking.

"And through it all, I could still hear them tapping at the walls. Finally, one of the Marines broke open the door to my cell and found me. When they found me, I weighed sixty-five pounds."

He turned back to the wall. "One hundred, fifty-three people were alive when the Jovians left. The Marines pulled out one survivor. They called it a miracle," he finished hauntingly.

"I'm so sorry," Aurora told him. "I can see why Ms. Megumi would be so angry."

"I'm not going to go through that again," he said, some of his firmness returning. "So you have to go back up there and..."

His eyes fluttered.

"Captain?"

Jun's head fell forward.

Aurora reached out and checked his pulse and respiration. "Oh, damn," she whispered. He was alive, but unconscious.

And she wasn't sure she'd be able to revive him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Barkrarak found her outside the Aerospace Physiology office, popping a yellow pill and downing it with a paper cup full of water. The pharmacist on the other side of the counter was speaking as she knocked it back.

"That'll keep you up and alert for twelve hours, but you'll crash hard, so be sure you're back by then."

She nodded. "Thanks, Doc." Seeing him approach, she walked up to the alien.

"Is it true that the leader of ships is unaware of present location?" Barkrarak asked.

"He's on the surface of that rogue planet somewhere," she told him. "We've got robots scouring the surface now."

"To assist I must be permitted," he argued.

She started down the hall toward the lift. "Ryoko says you don't fly until Jun signs off on it." The lift door started to close.

He reached out and stopped the door, leaning toward her. "Then to obtain the leader's signature, within credibility it is for I to fly to the planet and obtain."

Izumi cracked a smile. "I guess so. Come with me, do as I say, and don't say a word."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The crew chief looked up and did a double-take at the sight that met him.

Izumi pretended not to notice, looking at the maintenance report as Barkrarak stood next to her. The alien werewolf was in full flight suit, helmet, mask and visor. It had taken some work, but not one shred of fur was peeking through.

"You get that fuel pump issue resolved?" Izumi asked, sounding bored.

The crew chief was still staring up at Barkrarak's eight-foot frame.

Izumi snapped her fingers at him. "Psst! Hey!"

"Oh! Sorry, Ma'am! Yes, Ma'am!" he replied quickly. "I just..."

"What, you never met Captain Hightower before?" Izumi asked.

"Uh... No," the chief said. He held a hand out. "Nice to meet you."

Barkrarak looked down at him through the visor but did nothing.

"He's obsessive-compulsive," Izumi shared conspiratorially. "Once he gets in his gear, he can't touch anything but the robot."

"Oh," the crew chief said. "Sure."

"He's in Three-Two today," she told him. She pointed. "Over there."

Barkrarak lumbered over to the waiting robot while Izumi mounted up. Clipping her bone mic to her neck, she whispered into it. "Blackjack Thirteen, Blackjack Lead, radio check. How are you doing over there?"

She smiled at Barkrarak's irritated bark. "Respiration is difficult while mine beak is cocooned within this polymer masking."

"You can take it off when we're in the air," she assured him. "I'm in Sector Four, you're covering Sector Five. If you see anything, call it in, and I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Compliance."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"You want to save the captain... by shooting at him with the gravity blast cannon," Chase summarized. "Well! Why didn't I think of that!"

Ruri was standing on the floor display again, facing the assembled bridge crew. "Hai," she said simply.

"Ruri chan," Megumi began with a bit of concern. "Could you explain how that actually helps RESCUE Jun, Aurora and Chief Aragon?"

A map of the planet appeared at her feet. "We know the Kanchou is somewhere in the search zone. By targeting an area of the planet on this vector..." A line appeared bisecting the circle but ending well beyond the outside edge. "... we can effectively eliminate eighty percent of the cloud cover and spatial debris without risking harm to them."

Megumi nodded. "That WOULD cut out the majority of the sensor and communications interference."

"Do it," Genechiro ordered. "Lieutenant Aoi, warn the Aestivalis conducting the search. Tell them to get clear." He looked up at Ruri. "How much time before the Caretakers are in weapons range?"

"Twelve hours," Ruri told him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Aurora lost her footing and reached out, grabbing at the headrest of one of the lidar stations as a sharp squeal found its way past the light stick in her mouth. She jerked to a stop and hung for a moment.

Sighing in relief, she pulled herself up. "At least things can't get worse," she thought.

That's when the emergency lights went off.

"Don't every say that again!" she thought angrily to herself. "You remember all of the anime Ms. Megumi was in? Every time she said 'At least things can't get worse,' things got WORSE!"

Finding her footing, she started up again.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Barkrarak felt the turbulence around his Aestivalis edge off as they entered the lower atmosphere. Clouds filled the sky below them as they continued to descend. Hideki's modifications to the space frames allowed for a transformation into an atmosphere frame, making the Nadesico's space frames the first that could act as aero-space craft.

Izumi's face appeared to his right.

"All right, I know you still can't read our language, so the sensors are set up to work visually," she said. "Basically, if you see anything, call me."

"I..." Before he could finish a block of ice the size of a basketball hit the armor on his left shoulder. "Higher Being condemnation!" he swore.

"Yeah, I should have warned you about the hail," she said. "We think that's what brought the Datahawk down. Our armor and distortion fields should keep us safe, though."

"That is well," he agreed.

"Search Lead to all search elements," they heard Ryoko's voice announce. "The Nadesico is going to try to clear the cloud cover. All robots climb above thirty thousand feet or descend below three thousand feet. You have two minutes!"

"Let's go," Izumi told him, descending to two thousand feet above the snowy surface.

"What actions will ship's crew take?" Barkrarak asked.

"I guess we'll see in five...four... three... two ... one..."

The sky above them lit up, blinding them for a moment as the gravity blast cannonade crossed over their heads. The two pilots braced for the shockwave and wind blasts that would occur as a result.

When the wind buffeting their robots subsided, nothing but a soft green sky remained above their heads.

"Well," Izumi said. "That should make things easier."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Getting the panel off was the easy part. Trying to figure out the wires' different colors when the only light you had was green was trickier, but Aurora started in with grit teeth. Braced with her back against a locker and her feet against the far bulkhead, she hung suspended forty feet in the air.

She knew resetting the transponder would be easy, masters degrees in communications technologies from MIT and Columbia would see to that. No, what was bothering her was something else.

The fact that the only person who knew anything about military codes was in a coma forty feet below her.

She'd cross that bridge when she came to it. Right now she had to focus.

She found the transponder box and removed it from the housing case. Opening it, she nodded in approval. Simplistic and made to understand easily.

In fact, reprogramming the transmitter turned out to be the easiest thing she'd done all day, taking all of ten minutes of her time. Hooking up the transmitter to its power source, she held two connections in her hands. Assuming this worked, every time she tapped the leads together, the transmitter would send an audible click. But what to send?

She had it!

Putting the two leads together, she started tapping.

Tap.

Tap tap.

Tap tap tap.

Tap tap tap tap tap.

Congratulating herself, she continued to tap prime numbers, something anyone with a scientific mind would know.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Anything?" Genechiro asked.

Megumi bit her lip, her headset pressed against her ear with urgency, making sure not one stray decibel could escape unnoticed.

Finally, she had to shake her head. "Just some background radiation being reflected off the planet." She pulled her headset and allowed the noise to come in over the speakers.

Genechiro shook his head. "Blast. Keep scanning!" He turned to Ruri. "Time to intercept from my mark?"

"Four hours, twenty-two minutes."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

She finally had to rest. Moving her legs but being careful not to lose her place, Aurora shifted herself.

"Scientific mind?" she asked herself bitterly. "And who on the ship exactly is that?"

Her head struck the locker in thought. "Think, Aurora, think! Who would be listening?"

"Megumi!"

Leaning forward again, she began to tap out a new pattern.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Come on," Megumi whispered, her earset cutting into the circulation of her ear. "Please, Jun, just talk to me."

She adjusted the gain on her panel, trying to cut out natural radiological phenomenon.

Clicks. Lots of clicks.

She looked up as a slender hand rested a steaming cup on her desk. "Ruri chan?"

"Megumi san," she said simply.

"Thank you, Ruri chan." She drank gratefully.

Click-click... click... click...

"Is there anything I can do?" the girl asked.

Megumi shook her head. "No, Ruri chan. Thank you."

"This would not be the first time the Kanchou has come back from the dead," she told the older woman reassuringly. "He proved a lot of people wrong last time. This time, I think, everyone honestly assumes we'll find them."

Click click...

This made Megumi smile. "Thank you, Ruri. I..."

There was a sudden volley of fast-paced clicks that made Megumi pause in her tracks.

"Megumi san?"

The commo wasn't paying attention. She was listening to the clicks she heard. Her lips started moving to the rhythm.

Ruri blinked. "Megumi sa..."

"Shhh! Listen!" She pulled the headset out so the transmission came over the bridge speakers.

"I hear clicking," Ruri noted.

Megumi started speaking, her words corresponding with the clicks.

"TLC and kiss-es will ta-ake your pain a-way! Naut-y Nurse Ai will sa-ave the day!"

"Are you on drugs?" Chase asked from the helm.

"It's the theme song from my first anime role!" Megumi told them as the clicks repeated. She turned to her panel and isolated the signal.

"Um... Megumi, are you sure? Maybe you're just..." Chase began to say.

Megumi ignored him. "Who do we have in this area?" She asked Ruri.

Ruri ran back to her terminal and checked. "Blackjack Thirteen," she said.

Chase raised his hand. "We don't HAVE a Blackjack Thirteen."

"He can be the Ghost of Christmas Past for all I care," Megumi told him quickly. "Blackjack Thirteen, Nadesico! Investigate possible transmission from crash site one! Vector 184! Two-two miles magnetic south from your position! Acknowledge."

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Barkrarak had a little trouble interpreting Megumi's orders at such a rapid rate, but the big green arrow pointing to the right was clear enough.

"Yes," he replied, knowing that speaking more than that would give him away. He turned his Aestivalis south.

"Blackjack Thirteen," he heard Izumi's voice over the radio. "I'm moving to your position."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The battery finally gave out, and Aurora choked back a sob. That was it. She had been tapping the songs for every one of Ms. Megumi's animes for an hour, but so far nothing.

She tried to readjust again, but had lost circulation in her legs. The scientist cried out as she fell, her back striking the back of one of the lidar terminals as she went. When she landed in the cockpit, she heard a sickening snap and felt a sharp pain in her left arm, then numbness spreading through her left side.

Cradling the wounded appendage, she pulled her knees to her chest and started to cry. Hanging in his harness next to her, Jun gave no sign of life, his face bathed in sickly green light from her dropped light stick.

"Gomen nasai," she said tearily in his language. "I tried my best."

She felt her eyes grow heavy and knew her wounds were getting the better of her. She was going into shock.

"I don't want to die here," she whispered to everyone and no one. "Anywhere but here."

She imagined the air was growing thin, the taste of blood filled her mouth. She just wanted to sleep.

The ground moved beneath her as her eyes were closing. She was rising from the earth, she could feel it. This was it.

Oh, God, she was dying.

A light filled the room around her, and she dared to open her eyes one last time.

"Huh?"

The light came from the cockpit window, and instead of the face of God meeting her, another face peered through the plexiglass, a steel, robotic face.

"Oh, thank you, God," she whispered.

And lost consciousness.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Megumi met the Starhawks on the launch deck. As the hatches opened, medical teams rushed in, placing Jun and Aurora on gurnies. One of the orderlies held her back as they rushed the two toward sickbay.

Izumi and Barkrarak stood nearby, helmets in hand, watching. The alien watched the violet-haired woman storm up to him. He braced himself and was surprised when the human female wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you," she said, tears in her eyes. Before he could think to respond, she rushed out behind the gurnies.

"I... accomplished acceptfully?" he asked.

Izumi smiled. "Yeah," she told him. "You accomplished pretty acceptfully."

Before any more kind words could escape, Ryoko was in front of them. "Well," she said darkly. "It looks like you 'accidentally' found yourself in the cockpit again."

Barkrarak swallowed nervously, fully aware that he might have just risked his chances of piloting again.

"It looks like I'm going to have to take some drastic steps to control you," she said.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Megumi sat in the chair next to Jun's bed, her hands folded in front of her. She heard a knock and turned.

Aurora stood in the doorway, a chemical cast on her left arm. "Am I disturbing you?" she asked timidly.

The commo shook her head. "No, of course not. Come in."

Aurora stepped cautiously inside. "What did the doctors say?" she asked.

"He has to come out of it on his own," Megumi told her. "They've done all they can."

"I see."

"He's come back from worse," Megumi said hopefully.

"I know." Megumi looked at her as Aurora continued. "He... He told me about what happened on Phobos."

"I see."

"He's a remarkable man."

"When they found him, he was changed," Megumi told her. "It was like a part of him died in there, and another part was born. I don't want to lose any more of him."

Aurora reached over and put her arm around the woman.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"We're maintaining our lead over the Caregiver ships," Ryoko told Izumi on the flight deck. "But we need to make sure there's nothing ahead of us that will slow us down."

Izumi held her helmet under her arm as she watched Ryoko circle a part of the chart. "Just sweep this grid," Ryoko ordered. "Make sure there are no surprises."

The pilot nodded. "Right."

The two looked up as the hangar door opened, and Barkrarak stepped through, helmet under his arm and a 45th SCS patch on the arm of his flight suit. He stood up straight in front of Ryoko and saluted.

"Barkrarak rahpording fur duudry, Sur," he recited in the Earther's language.

Ryoko's face darkened.

"'Ma'am,'" Izumi corrected. "She's a 'Ma'am.'"

The alien straightened his shoulders and corrected himself. "Ma'om."

"Just go," Ryoko grumbled, storming off.

"Not bad," Izumi told him as they started for their robots.

"I repeated efforts all this early day," he told her.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Aurora removed her shirt over the bulky chemical cast and turned the lights out in her bedroom. She walked to her bed, pausing to kiss her fingers and pat the Naughty Nurse Ai poster hanging on her wall. Sitting on her bed, she paused, reflecting.

She knew, intellectually, that there would be danger involved in crossing the galaxy and exploring a new solar system complete with possibly hostile aliens, but she had assumed that the danger would mostly be up to the military to handle. The scientists, such as herself, would be insulated from it.

Now that she had a taste of that danger, she wasn't sure what to do. It might be all clear sailing from here, or it could just get worse.

Aurora wasn't a daredevil, a soldier or even a free-spirit. She wanted nothing to do with danger. She came on this expedition as Ms. Inez's assistant.

Sighing, she flopped back onto the bed, her eyes closed.

Tap... Tap Tap...

She opened her eyes.

"Oh, shut up," she said.

Author's notes:

1. Indentification Friend or Foe. Transponders on aircraft allow friendlies to ID one another, even on stealth aircraft.

2. Hot pitting is where an aircraft lands, refuels, rearms and takes off again without the pilot leaving the aircraft or the engines even shutting down.


	9. Nobody Talks to the Captain No More

Nadesio and Jimmy Buffett do not belong to me.

Chapter 9

Nobody Talks to the Captain No More

"It's been a week. Has there been any change?"

Hideki shrugged at Chase's question, leaning against the bulkhead nearest to the helm. "Last I heard, the doctors went ahead and repaired his legs, but he's still not awake. Megumi must be frantic."

Chase nodded as he made a few adjustments on the helm. "I bet. Personally, after a week under Captain Ahab, I'm frantic to have the skipper back too."

The engineer smiled. "It's not as bad as it could be. Just wait until my revival."

"Speaking of which," Chase broke in. "What's this note about needing another singer?"

"A man can't sing Minmei, Chase," Hideki told him. "There are some things that are simply sacred."

"Whatever," Chase told him. "It's your show."

Hideki smiled. "It's just for the Minmei stuff," he said diplomatically. "The rest of the stuff is yours."

"Like I said, it's your gig." Chase typed in a few more commands. "The only thing that worries me is your description of what your ideal singer is."

"How so?"

"All I'm saying is where are we going to find a fifteen year old Asian girl who can sing?"

The two went quiet for a moment, then a light came on.

At Ops, Ruri looked up. "Oh no..."

&&&&&&&&

"Well it didn't take long for the genetic manipulation to wear off, did it?" Ryoko asked as she did her walk around. Standing nearby, Rikari said nothing. "He's back to being a dickhead."

The redhead shrugged. "He's a Jovian officer. He'll run the ship like a Jovian one. That's all he knows."

Ryoko ducked and looked at the directional nozzles behind the Aestivalis knees. "Still, he would have been better off running the ship the way Jun would have."

"Captain Aoi's style is much different from a Jovian one," Rikari reminded her. "It puzzles some of us sometimes."

"Like what?" Ryoko asked, jumping up and hanging on her Aesti's index finger. "Treating people like people?"

"In a weird way, yes," she replied. "Jovian soldiers are soldiers first."

Ryoko huffed. "For us, the fact that we're people is what gives us our strength."

"He'll get the hang of it," Rikari assured her.

&&&&&&&&&&&

The holomonitor near the head of his bed beeped in a steady rhythm while visually showing Jun's vital signs with graphs and charts and projections.

Megumi understood what it all meant, but preferred to rely on her own senses, the touch of her hand holding his, the blood pumping through his arteries. She squeezed a little tighter.

Nothing. Nothing but a steady, unerring pulse.

A week had passed since they brought him back, a week and still nothing.

"Still no change, huh?" she asked with a forced smile. "You're still stubborn about these things, aren't you?"

At least he was off the ventilator. The doctors were able to repair his legs, though they said it would take him months to relearn to use them.

For Megumi, though, it was nothing new. When he returned from Phobos, the doctors had to replace parts of scarred tissue that burned him when his ejection system malfunctioned. She'd learned a long time ago that Jun Aoi was stronger than a lot of people gave him credit for. Whiplash during the second time he tried to fly, shot by Minato's boyfriend, and that was before he was shot down.

Though he never spoke of it, the doctors and Ryoko had told her how her husband had managed to save his own leg while in prison. It was something taught to pilots at SERE school, though rarely used. His legs burned and infected and knowing the Jovians weren't going to help him, he stopped waving the flies away.

Attracted to the infection blossoming in his leg, the flies landed and laid eggs. The eggs hatched, and the deathly white maggots grew fat on the dead and infected tissue in his leg...1

"Maggots only eat dead tissue," Ryoko had said.

When Ryoko had told her that, Megumi, a woman who had been through nursing school and thought she had seen it all, promptly vomited.

"You're going to come back to me," she told him quietly. "I'll be here, waiting, when you wake up."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Royoko, ya hafta do somed'n!"

The wing king looked up as she pulled her helmet off. She had landed from her patrol only a few moments ago to find Moira and what looked like the angry half of the ship waiting for her when the cockpit opened.

"Moira, what are you talking about?" Ryoko asked her. "I've been off the ship for three hours. You're going to have to be a lot more specific."

The Scot held up a sign, the corners ragged as if it had been torn off a wall.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES NOW PROHIBITED BY ORDER OF THE XO.

"Da pop'njay lizard went a'n locked up all ev 'er booze, Royoko!" Moira cried. "Der isn'a a drop to be found anywhere!"

"Jesus Christ," Ryoko muttered. She took a breath and decided to try to be diplomatic. "What would you like me to do?" she asked.

"I've got twenty lads here, Royoko," Moira told her. "We say storm 'da bridge 'an..."

"Woah! Hold the comm!" Ryoko said, hopping down from the cockpit. "You want to MUTINY... over BEER?"

Moira looked sheepish for a moment. "Well 'an dat ain't all," she said. "He's pulled all women security furces off duty, took 'der godedamn guns away, fer Chrissakes! He reassigned three of me Marines to 'da kitchen!"

For the first time, Ryoko noticed that an overwhelming majority of Moira's mob was female.

"Royoko, you outrank 'da bastard!" Moira hissed. "Ya hafta do SOMEDING!"

"I'll talk to him," Ryoko hissed, starting for the ops desk.

"Talk?!"

"Yes, Moira, talk!" Ryoko bit back. "It might not be as satisfying, but it's what Jun would want us to do FIRST! While Jun's out of action, HE'S the CO."

The Scot fumed. "Fine 'den," she told her. "Ya go ahead and talk. Da rest of his dainty females will go try on ar new burquas." With that, she and the mob stormed off.

"Fucking perfect," Ryoko hissed.

Before she talked to the Vice, she had another problem she had to deal with.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Lieutenant Junior Grade Priscilla "Pixy" Everett thought she was in trouble from the moment she entered the wing king's office.

Seeing Ryoko look up from her terminal, she snapped to attention. "MA'AM!"

"Take a seat, Pixy," Ryoko ordered quietly.

Pixy sat and folded her hands in her lap.

Ryoko didn't look up from her screen. "Your first long range patrol is tomorrow," she said simply. "You're going to be on Drifter's wing."

The young blonde gulped and hoped Ryoko didn't notice.

She did.

"You're not cut out for this," she said. Ryoko finally looked up at her. "There's no shame in it."

Pixy's breath caught in her throat. "Ma'am, I..."

"Don't get me wrong," Ryoko continued. "You can fly well enough. It's combat where you get a little... fuzzy."

"I'm scared," she replied. "I didn't think I would be, but..."

Ryoko nodded. "Pixy, I need good pilots... desperately. But I can't have those pilots freezing up when they're needed most. So you tell me what you want to do."

The girl looked at her lap. "I don't know," she whispered.

The wing commander sat back in her chair and looked at her sympathetically. "Jun could probably use an aide de camp. Do your patrol tomorrow, and I'll start the paperwork."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Colonel Subaru, I assure you, no one is changing anything," Genechiro said, hanging onto the ragged edge of civility. "A few administrative actions were taken. That's all."

On the other side of the comm window, Ryoko arched an eyebrow. "Administrative actions, huh?" she replied.

"Yes, until Captain Aoi wakes up, it is in my purview as XO to make those kind of decisions."

"Look, Tsukuomi," she tried civilly, "I'm not arguing. I'm merely suggesting that you take a look at some of those decisions. After all, there's little point in implementing decisions that Jun is just going to overturn the second he sees them, right?"

Genechiro forced a smile. "I'll keep that in mind. Out."

Ryoko's face disappeared.

The XO slammed a fist down on the command panel. Were this a Jovian vessel, that... WOMAN... would be sewing shirts in the laundry, not telling him how to run a combat vessel.

"I brought you your tea."

He snapped out of his reverie and turned to find Aurora standing there with a cup of tea. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Your tea," the blonde elaborated, offering the cup and saucer with her good hand, the other still in the chem cast from her ordeal on Ford Festiva. "You have some about this time every day, right?" The scientist continued as Genechiro took the cup. "I noticed you haven't had time to get some from the kitchen this past week. Too busy, huh?"

"Thank you," he said, caught off balance.

"Something troubling you?"

He shook his head.

"Something troubling Ryoko?" she tried again. "I kind of heard it. You seem a little upset."

Genechiro grit his teeth. "I'm just a little tired of hearing about how Jun Aoi would do it better."

"I know the feeling," she told him quietly. "Sometimes I feel like I'm just a placeholder for Dr. Franssenge, you know?"

"You've performed... adequately," Genechiro let out hesitantly.

"You really think so?" Aurora brightened.

Genechiro, sensing the trap he just walked into, sighed. "Yes... adequately."

The scientist smiled broadly. "Thanks! I don't see why everyone thinks you're so mean!"

The XO growled.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"What now?"

Izumi watched her breath freeze in front of her as the temperature continued to drop. They were safe in the asteroid for the time being. She bit her lip and tried to think up something that would get them out of this mess. "I think..."

Suddenly, static squealed over her comm link. She tried switching to the back-up frequency, but static met her on every channel. Swearing to herself, she sealed her helmet and popped her canopy.

Floating carefully to the ground, she saw Hikaru doing the same. She tried the comm in her helmet with no success and growled. Bouncing up to Hikaru, she took the red-head's helmet in her hands and placed her own visor firmly against it.

"They have a Compass Call!(2)" she shouted, the vibrations from her voice reverberating across their visors, making her audible. "Comm is out!"

"What now?!" Hikaru shouted back.

"We have to warn the others!" she replied. "We have to make a run for it!"

"My port engine is fried!" Hikaru told her.

"Then one of us has to stay here!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Izumi marched down the corridor and turned at Engineering. She found Hideki in one of the back-shops, working on making advanced rounds with the laser cutter. The Jovian looked up and smiled.

"Colonel," he greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"I need a favor," she told him simply.

"What do you have to trade?" he asked with a smile.

Izumi was prepared for this. She had heard through the rumor mill that Hideki was running a favor factory, even getting Ryoko to owe him one.

"Open a tab?" she asked.

"Depends on what you need from me," he told her.

"Access to Jovian military records," she said plainly.

"Easy but dangerous," he warned, turning back to his task. "You'll owe me big."

She nodded ambivalently.

"Lucy!" he called.

A grasshopper peeked around the corner at them and twittered.

"Go with Colonel Maki," he ordered. "She has some questions."

The machine twittered and walked toward Izumi.

"Bring some of your nicer-looking pilots to the revival tonight, and we'll call it even," Hideki told her with a smile.

"Ecchi," she replied with the beginnings of a smile.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Though she couldn't understand Lucy's twitters, the grasshopper made things easier, walking right up to a viewer and detaching a cable from her torso the moment they entered her quarters.

Without a word, Izumi plugged her in and brought up a holo-board, scrolling through options until she reached the personnel records. She paused twice, not really sure herself if she wanted to know. She wasn't even sure the Jovians would keep such information on file.

But they did. And at the end of an extensive list, she found what she was looking for.

DE472-91

SM044-96

LC020-96

ND033-96 (3)

Izumi sat back in her seat and sighed. Just to make sure, she clicked the link, requesting details.

ND033-96

BELT DEFENSIVE CAMPAIGN

JULIET-CLASS AESTIVALIS

CONFIRMED KILL

Biting her finger in anxious thought, Izumi closed Rikari's service record and left the room.

&&&&&&&&&&

"IS EVERYONE HAVING A GOOD TIME TONIGHT?!" Hideki shouted into the microphone as Chase finished a guitar riff. The crowd, about fifty Nadesico crewmembers and a surprising number of Jovians, cheered.

The engineer beamed. So far his anime showing was a complete success. Although he was originally just going to show Macross, he had gotten into the spirit and shown some Gekigangar and a few other titles as well. A surprising number had stayed for the concert afterward.

"Let's hear it again for our Minmei stand-in, Ruri Hoshino!"

Standing on stage nearby, in a green and yellow dress, Ruri looked bored. "I want to die," she said into the mic.

"And a round of applause for Uncle John's Band!" Hideki added to fresh applause. Chase did another riff.

"Now before the shock troops show up and break things up..." Hideki joked, "We've got one more song for you..."

"Too late!"

Hideki looked up at the entrance to the conference room...

And found shock troops there, Genechiro in the lead.

"Wow, you really called that one," Ruri noted.

"Clear this room!" Genechiro ordered. People started pouring out as if someone had just shouted, "Gas! Gas! Gas!"

Hideki sighed. "Tsukuomi, what's the problem?"

"The problem?" Genechiro asked angrily. He pointed at the screen where the Macross credits were still playing. "Spreading heresy is a crime, not a problem."

"The captain approved this!" the engineer spat back.

"Well as the current commander, I'm disapproving it." He turned to one of the troops. "Put him in the brig."

"What?!"

Chase stepped up. "Whoa! Hold on there, John Wayne! You can't do that!"

"Oh no? Him too!" he ordered, pointing at Chase. Guards stepped forward and put handcuffs on the two men.

Ruri furrowed her eyebrows. "Mr. Warren is right," she told him deadpan. "Under UEAF regulations, you can't just arrest people you disagree with."

Genechiro looked at her. "I disagree with that."

&&&&&&&&&

"So... I guess he CAN arrest people he disagrees with," Chase noted.

Sitting on the other side of the brig cell, Ruri looked angry enough to kill.

"Baka... Baka... Baka..."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ryoko watched the screen in her office as Drifter and Pixy's Aestivalis took off. Biting her lip, she turned and sat down again, addressing the man across the desk from her.

"Scarf is going to take the RJ solar north and listen for comm traffic between these two planetary bodies. I'd like your guys to provide security."

Rikari took a few notes. "Something about Drifter or Pixy troubling you?"

Ryoko was taken off guard, but recovered quickly. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned back in her chair. "It's Pixy's last flight," she said. "She's going to be an aide."

The Jovian arched an eyebrow. "That will put you another pilot short," she noted. "What prompted this?"

The wing king knew she had to walk a finer line with Rikari than most. They were technically the same rank, and the Jovian was her de facto deputy, so she couldn't just dismiss the Jovian officer's concerns.

Finding the right words, Ryoko laid it out. "Pixy has aggression problems."

"What? You mean she's too bold?"

"No, I mean she doesn't have enough," Ryoko said in exasperation. "She doesn't have the kind of killer instinct a robot pilot needs. She hesitates. It's... It's dangerous."

"She's young," Rikari reminded her gently. "She's what? Twenty-two?"

"Yeah," the teal-haired woman replied.

"Try to remember what it was like when you were twenty-two."

Ryoko bit her lip. "When I was twenty-two..."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Twenty-two year old Ryoko Subaru rolled her sleeves up. "All right, Xian Mei," she growled. "You want it that bad? Let's go!"

The Chinese woman she was threatening put her hands on her hips. The other three pilots in the Nergal Test Cadre paid no attention. Fights between Ryoko and Xian were a normal occurrence these days. When they were testing on Earth, they could at least stay on different sides of the base. On board the UES Valkyrie, on loan to Nergal for space flight testing the new space frame, there was no avoiding one another.

Xian stuck her tongue out, and Ryoko charged, catching the taller woman across the waist and carrying her ten feet like a Raiders linebacker.

Hikaru didn't even look up from her manga as the two fell over the footboard of her bed, scratching and pulling hair. Angry screeches were exchanged.

The lights in the room turned red, prompting Hikaru to break her attention from her Gekigangar manga. "Another drill?" she sighed. "Jeez..."

Ryoko and Xian didn't bother to stop as an older man's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"This is the captain," he announced. "May I have your attention, please."

Ryoko screamed as Xian got a good grip on her teal hair and pulled with all her might.

"A few moments ago, this ship received word that an unknown fleet appeared on long-range lidar approaching Mars from the direction of Jupiter."

Xian grunted as Ryoko got a good shot to her gut in.

"Quiet!" Hikaru hushed them.

"The Sixth Fleet, under the command of Admiral Fukube, intercepted the fleet just short of the Martian Defense Line... and has been roundly defeated."

Ryoko and Xian finally stopped and listened.

"We are now receiving reports of the total destruction of the Mars Utopia colony... as well as the complete destruction of the spacecraft carriers Akagi, Katsuragi, Sohryu and Ayanami..." (4)

Ryoko dumped Xian off her and shot to her feet, staring at the loudspeaker in shock.

"All of the questions I know you're asking yourselves mean nothing right now," the captain said. "The priority now is to get this ship combat ready. Department heads, attend to your departments. Remember your training, trust the man next to you, and we will get through this."

"That is all."

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ryoko regarded Rikari for another moment. "When I was twenty-two, I had more important things to worry about," she said.

She was interrupted by a knock at the door. Looking up, she found Scarf standing in the doorway. "You got a moment, Colonel?"

"Come in, Scarf," Ryoko replied. "What's on your mind?"

The Texan glanced at Rikari, then back at Ryoko. "Alone?"

The Jovian got the hint and stood up. "We can finish this later," she said, offering Ryoko a salute. "Colonel."

Watching the Jovian officer walk out, Scarf turned to Ryoko and took a breath. "I didn't realize you had male RJ pilots," she said flat out.

"What do you mean?"

"The XO has ordered me to stand down," she told the wing commander. "I'm not to fly my bird anymore."

Ryoko rubbed her temples. "Goddammit," she muttered. Looking back up at the pilot, she took a breath. "Ignore him. I need you out there."

"What about him?"

"I'll handle him."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Megumi stepped onto the bridge, and was surprised to see Aurora running between stations, making adjustments.

"Aurora?" she began. "What's going on? Where is everyone?"

Squeaking in panic as the helm terminal began to beep, Aurora rushed to Chase's seat and made a few adjustments before sighing in relief and turning back to Megumi.

"Um... what's the term for a Navy prison?" she asked.

Megumi arched an eyebrow. "The brig."

"Yeah, they're in the brig," she announced.

"THE BRIG?!"

"Yeah," Aurora said sheepishly. "There was a... um... failure to communicate."

"What are they doing in the brig?!" she cried.

"Mrs. Aoi, how is the captain?"

Turning, she found Genechiro standing there. Brushing aside the question and that he addressed her by her salutation rather than her rank, Megumi put her hands on her hips.

"Commander Tsukuomi, why is the entire bridge crew in the brig?"

Genechiro's face turned cross. "In the captain's absence, I have to run this ship to the best of my ability, and spreading heresy has a corrosive effect on morale and unit cohesion."

"So... Aurora is running the bridge?"

"Only until one of the men from the laundry can come up and take her place."

The commo huffed. "I see," she said. "And who will be taking my place at comm? A guy from the mail room?"

Genechiro smiled. "Oh, no need to worry about that. Women in the more womanly fields like communication will remain at their posts."

Aurora cocked her head as her ears picked up a low, crunching sound. She swallowed nervously as she realized it was the sound of Megumi's teeth grinding together. She watched as her idol started toward the lift.

"If you will excuse me, Commander," she said, voice syrupy sweet. "I need to go change into a longer skirt."

Genechiro smiled. "Excellent! You've already heard about the new dress code!"

The doors closed behind Megumi, and Aurora could swear she heard thumps as Megumi bashed her head against the door.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"All right!" Ryoko screamed as she marched onto the flight deck. "I want to know what kind of bullshit joyride you people think this is!"

The crewmembers huddled around the Rivet Jack jumped to attention as she approached. "MA'AM!?"

"Scarf is thirty minutes late to pre-brief!" Ryoko barked. "Where is she? And if the answer is 'hung over,' I swear to Christ I'll space every last one of you!"

"We don't know, Ma'am!"

Ryoko was taken aback. The spacing part of her tirade was only hyperbole. Even so, if her pilot was drunk and out of commission, so would the rest of the RJ crew. Yet the rest of them were there with their gear, looking generally puzzled.

"So... Where the fuck..."

"Try the brig!"

She turned and saw Megumi walking up to her.

"I was just there," she said. "They've got Scarf, Chase, RURI..."

"For what?!"

"Get this," Megumi said, preparing her. "Heresy."

"Wot's the deal?" Moira asked, walking up.

"That's it," Ryoko muttered, walking to a vid panel. Turning it on, Genechiro's face appeared.

"Ms. Subaru," he said in greeting.

She ignored the slight. "I want my flight crews and everyone else you've got in the brig on bullshit charges released right now," she said icily. Megumi took a step back. Usually Ryoko got louder when she was angry. She only got quieter when she was positively livid.

"Denied," he said. Almost as an afterthought, he added. "Furthermore, after some thought, I've decided to make some personnel switches. Colonel Rikari will be taking over as wing com..."

"Release them now," she repeated, cutting him off. "FURTHERMORE," she said in a deliberate impersonation. "I'm making some personnel changes of my own. When Lieutenant Commander Hoshino arrives on the bridge, she will relieve you of command and..." (5)

"That is quite enough, MS. Subaru!" he said. "You're forgetting who you're talking to!"

"I know who I'm talking to, Tsukuomi," she said, her voice still frosty, but picking up steam. "An asshole!"

"That is insubo..."

"I'm going upstairs!" she announced. "And I'm getting my men!"

"MS. SUBARU, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!" he screamed. "Remain there until security arrives."

With that, he disappeared.

Ryoko started shaking in rage.

"Royoko?" Moira asked.

Suddenly, the wing king turned. "We have sixty seconds!" she cried. "Moira, I need Marines sealing those doors! Now! Crew chiefs, I need birds ready to fly RIGHT NOW!"

People started scrambling.

"Oh, Ryoko," Megumi said in mock disappointment. "ANOTHER mutiny?" She smiled.

"Jun can court martial me when he wakes up," Ryoko told her. Around them, Marines were scrambling from the weapons lockers in full battle-rattle, taking up positions by the doors.

"Wot's the plon?" Moira asked, adjusting her kevlar.

Ryoko handed Megumi her sidearm. "I'm going upstairs...in an Aesti," she said. "The rest of you need to buy me some time."

"Ye've lost yer foking mind, Royoko!" Moira told her. "Wit 'dat distorshon field op, ye'll smash rot into da ting as sone as ye launch!"

"That's why I'm going out manually," she said. "I'm going to climb up the superstructure and point the biggest gun I have at that chauvinist's head."

She started for her Aestivalis.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Are you really that stupid?" Rikari asked him.

Genechiro crossed his arms over this chest as Aurora dashed from station to station behind him, checking read-outs. "I'm the commander, they're the crew. It's how things are."

"These are not Jovians!" she hissed at him. "You cannot apply your rules and expect them to take it!"

"I can, and they will!" he shot back. "And if you don't like it, you can join the others in the brig!"

Rikari came to attention and saluted. "If you will excuse me, Commander," she spat. "Something tells me I don't want to be on this bridge when Colonel Subaru arrives."

&&&&&&&&&&

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

On the other side of the door, Moira smiled.

"SECURITY FORCES!" the cop yelled from outside. "Open up!"

Sixteen Marines and two ground-combat Aesti's racked their weapons.

"It's open!" Moira sang with a smile.

A pause.

"Um... That's okay, we're good," she heard.

"Royoko," she breathed. "Yo've got yer minutes."

&&&&&&&&&&&

Using magnetic grapples, Ryoko carefully made her way up the port side of the ship. She had to be extremely cautious. With the distortion field up and only fifty yards away, an accidental drift could cause her to crash.

She hoped Moira and the others were okay. Security Forces were pros, but she knew up against the Scot's Marines, there was the potential for a good deal of blood.

Her Aestivalis arrived at the neck of the superstructure, where the bridge section met the rest of the ship. Pushing off, Ryoko floated slowly upward toward the bridge window. Carefully unslinging her fifty-cal, she drifted right in front of the bridge and stopped.

Opening a comm window, she didn't waste time.

"Everyone who doesn't want to die, leave the bridge!"

Genechiro's face appeared in front of her own. "You don't honestly believe I'm going to just hand you the ship? I'll have the Nadesico's weapons blow you out of the sky!"

"Good plan," she conceded. "Except you made two mistakes. One, at this range, there are only a few weapons on Nadesico that can be trained on me, and I know them better than you do. Second, with Ruri in the brig, good luck getting Omoikane to override the IFF system to where you could even BEGIN targeting me."

"Pfft!" the Jovian countered. "In two minutes, I can have a dozen Y-Types out there!"

"I see another robot out here, and I kill the man driving it!" Ryoko told him. "Now you..."

"DRIFTER'S HIT! DRIFTER'S HIT!"

"The fuck?" Ryoko asked in surprise.

Aurora's face appeared next to Genechiro's. "Um... Excuse me, but while I was checking the comm station, I noticed there was a message, so I..."

Ryoko didn't wait. She tapped into the comm feed from the SWACS. Pixy's voice came rushing over the line.

"Drifter's hit!" she repeated. "House, this is Longshot Two! Say again, Drifter is hit!"

"The SWACS says the patrol was checking out some kind of cosmic cloud and they were jumped," Aurora said. "What should I..."

"Scramble fighters immediately!" Genechiro ordered.

"It won't do any good," Ryoko said in wrathful impotence. "Even if they burned their engines out, they couldn't get there inside half an hour." She took an angry breath. "They're on their own."

"He's in a flat spin!" came Pixy's voice. "He's ejecting! House, Longshot Two, we have a May West in the water! Oh hamburgers! Here they come again!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Their feud forgotten for the moment, Genechiro listened to the comm net, his heart pounding in his chest.

"They're coming out of the cloud!" Pixy announced. "Engaging!"

He heard gasping grunts as Pixy started high-g maneuvers. "Come on, come on," he heard her whisper. A high-pitched whine, eerily reminiscent of a EEG flatline came over the line. "Tone! I've got tone!" she cried. "FOX TWO! FOX TWO!"

&&&&&&&&&&&

"Come on, Pixy," Ryoko whispered. "Come on."

"SPLASH ONE! SPLASH ONE!" the young woman shouted.

"Yes!" Ryoko cried, slamming her hand into the IFS reader.

"I've lost the other one! The other one's in the cloud somewhere! Cat's Eye, Longshot Two, bogey dope!" she ordered.

"Longshot Two, Cat's Eye," Ryoko heard an SWACS tech respond slowly and clearly. "Vector two-two-seven, descend to Angel's Five for target."

"Roger! Moving to engage!" Ryoko listened to her breath, accelerated and heavy from adrenaline for several seconds. "I got him! I got him!" More grunts as Pixy turned hard.

"Come on, Pixy," Ryoko urged. "Waste him!"

"TONETONETONE!" she screamed. "FOXTWOFOXTWO!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&

Genechiro waited breathlessly for several seconds, looking up at the lidar feed from the SWACS.

"SPLASH TWO!"

"YES!" Genechiro hissed, slapping the command terminal.

"House, this is Longshot Two," Pixy announced. "Repeat, splash two. I need an SAR bird out here for recovery."

"Um..." Aurora began, Megumi's earpiece at her head. "That's... um... good?" she shrugged.

Ryoko jumped in at this point. "Understood, Longshot Two," she said. "Remain on station for security."

"Roger that!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Pixy heard and felt the dull clunk that signaled her Aesti coming to berth. Reaching out, she shut down the transpositional engine and the avionics. Taking a deep breath, she popped the canopy...

And applause met her.

Half the crew was standing below her Aesti, cheering. She looked to her left and saw her crew chief placing two diamond-shaped decals on the side of her robot below her name.

Smiling, she laughed shortly and started climbing down. When her feet touched ground, someone slammed into her, embracing her in a bear hug. She recognized Drifter's laugh and hugged back.

"Lieutenant."

She quickly came to attention and saluted. "Commander!"

Genechiro stood there, Ryoko at his side. He gave her a once over and nodded.

"Well done," he said simply.

"For a woman?" Ryoko asked suspiciously.

The Jovian was about to answer, but looked around at the assembled crew first. Men and women in different suits seemed intent on how he'd answer. His face softened. "No," he answered quietly. "Just well done."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"So Ryoko and Genechiro have decided to put it behind them," Megumi said softly. "Just like that. I guess being reminded of how dependent we are on one another out here jostled them pretty good."

She turned and smiled down at her husband. The EKG beeped steadily, but betrayed no sign of change.

Sighing, her smile slipped. "We miss you," she told him. Turning, she started for the door, reaching out and dimming the lights on her way out.

"'Gumi chan?"

She froze, her breath catching in her throat. Turning slowly, almost fearfully, she saw lidded blue eyes looking back at her.

"Jun chan!"

Tears rolling down her face, she all but tackled her overwhelmed husband.

Author's Notes:

1. The technique Jun used on Phobos is based on the experience of a U.S. Navy pilot shot down over Vietnam and shared during a POW/MIA luncheon at Offutt AFB. During the meal, the pilot told the story of how he allowed maggots to eat away the infected tissue in his leg until they were fat, then washed away with his own stale urine. To their credit, no one seemed to lose their appetite.

2. "Compass Call" is the name given to the EC-130Hs based at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. The role of the Compass Call is to fly near enemy territory and jam, intercept or fake enemy radio and cell phone transmissions.

3. Tail numbers are used to identify individual aircraft. In this case, ND033-96, identifies the thirty-third craft of that model released in the year 2196 and that it was based on the ship bearing the marker, ND, in this case, the Nadesico.

4. Evangelion reference. All the carriers listed are named for Eva characters. Ritsuko Akagi, Misato Katsuragi, Asuka Langley Sohryu and Rei Ayanami.

5. As operations officer, Ruri would be third in command of the ship and next in line of succession.


End file.
